/sci/ - Science & Math

>We proposed a new class of planetary missions dubbed ‘gliding entry’, to distinguish them from the direct entry missions conducted or planned at that time. Waverider could be used for prolonged exploration of the upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere, so far sampled only by vertical sounding rockets; but it could map the ionosphere of Jupiter (Fig. 4), which is multi-layered and deep, whereas the Galileo entry probe went through it in seconds. Because the most intense plasma would be concentrated below Waverider during atmosphere entry, it should be possible to maintain contact from overhead, or from Earth in a planetary mission, through the entry phase. For extended missions in the atmospheres of Venus, Jupiter and Titan, balloons are at the mercy of the winds, limiting the study to one airstream, unless reaching another by rising or falling; their usefulness for surface studies is limited. When deployed over Venus in 1986, their lifetimes were short; Waveriders could cut across airstreams for more comprehensive sampling, and at low speed, would remain aloft almost indefinitely in denser atmosphere layers.
> Waverider’s low wing-loading gives a landing ‘footprint’, descending from space, which literally envelops the Earth, and touchdown speed less than 160 kph; a delivery vehicle which can land anywhere on Earth, on ordinary runways, will have great political importance.
https://theorkneynews.scot/2022/11/27/waverider-part-1-a-spacecraft-in-waiting/

>>15602213
>PLUTO ramjet flying across Jupiter from the equator to a pole
hnng

Imagine if we had time to set up a cloud surfing plane to observe shoemaker-levy 9 impact jupiter