/sci/ - Science & Math

Reposting an idea from a couple threads back.

Design an unmanned flyby/orbiter mission to Planet 9 (now called "Typhon").

The scenario is such as follows:

>near future, maybe 2021
>planet 9 is actually discovered near where it was predicted to be based on perturbations of kuiper belt objects like Sedna.
>is named "Typhon" after the enormous 100-headed monster from Greek mythology that fought against the gods of Olympus in an attempt to overthrow them and almost succeeded but was defeated by Zeus and imprisoned underneath Mt. Etna, where his anger sometimes causes the volcano to erupt (variations of the myth have different endings).
>the Typhon myth will have a real-life astronomical parallel as the planet Typhon would have originally formed much closer to the sun but end up flung out to the far outer reaches of the solar system from a gravitational encounter with Jupiter.
>Typhon turns out to be signifigantly larger and closer than expected, at around 62 Earth masses and 8 Earth radii which would make it the fourth largest object in the solar system after the Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn.
>Typhon's orbit is more circular than less inclined than expected at around 500 AU semimajor axis.
>at this distance, light from the Sun takes almost 3 days to reach it, compared to a mere 5 hours to reach Pluto.
>no data about potential moons or ring sysem, but is speculated to posess both.

>design an unmanned probe mission either as a flyby or orbiter using only existing technology or technology that can reasonably be derived from existing technology.
>make the probe system flexible enough to make navigational decisions on in situ based on the presence of any moons or rings, mainly studying them and avoiding collisions.
>god-mode challenge: have the probe be equipped with a lander for any of Typhon's moons with no data about the actual moons themselves or their atmospheres.

The first time we did this was fun. Let's do it again.

Reposting from last thread:

Let's have a design challenge /sci/,

How about an unmanned mission to Planet 9? I propose naming the new planet 'Typhon', after the enormous 100-headed monster from Greek mythology that fought the Gods of Olympus in an attempt to overthrow them, and nearly succeeded but was defeated by Zeus and imprisoned inside Mt. Etna (variations of the myth have different endings) where his anger causes the volcano to erupt. Appropriately, Typhon's moons should also be named after assorted monster antagonists of Greek mythology. The myth would actually have an astronomical parallel as Typhon would have formed much closer to the sun but end up flung out to the far edges of the Kuiper belt from an ancient gravitational encounter with Jupiter.

The scenario calls for its hypothetical discovery in the near future. It has a near-circular orbit with a semi-major axis of approximately 500 AU. At this distance, light from the sun takes just under three days to reach it. Just to make it easier to have potential orbiter missions, I would upscale the planet significantly from current estimates to 62 Earth masses and 8 Earth radii, which would make it the fourth largest object in the solar system after the Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn.

Design your ideal Typhon mission and the unmanned probe(s) that would carry it out. It must use existing technology or technology that can be feasibly derived from existing technology. God-tier bonus if you can devise lander probes for Typhon's moons without having any actual data about the moons at all.

I would pitch this to NASA as an exercise just to see how savvy they are. I am well aware that such a mission is highly unlikely to ever be approved even if Typhon turns out to be real.

Let's have a design challenge /sci/,

How about an unmanned mission to Planet 9? I propose naming the new planet 'Typhon', after the enormous 100-headed monster from Greek mythology that fought the Gods of Olympus in an attempt to overthrow them, and nearly succeeded but was defeated by Zeus and imprisoned inside Mt. Etna (variations of the myth have different endings) where his anger causes the volcano to erupt. Appropriately, Typhon's moons should also be named after assorted monster antagonists of Greek mythology. The myth would actually have an astronomical relevancy as Typhon would have formed much closer to the sun but end up flung out to the far edges of the Kuiper belt from an ancient gravitational encounter with Jupiter.

The scenario calls for its hypothetical discovery in the near future. It has a near-circular orbit with a semi-major axis of approximately 500 AU. At this distance, light from the sun takes just under three days to reach it. Just to make it easier to have potential orbiter missions, I would upscale the planet significantly from current estimates to 62 Earth masses and 8 Earth radii, which would make it the fourth largest object in the solar system after the Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn.

Design your ideal Typhon mission and the unmanned probe(s) that would carry it out. It must use existing technology or technology that can be feasibly derived from existing technology. God-tier bonus if you can devise lander probes for Typhon's moons without having any actual data about the moons at all.

I would pitch this to NASA as an exercise just to see how savvy they are. I am well aware that such a mission is highly unlikely to ever be approved even if Typhon turns out to be real.