Voyager 1 Roll Thruster Heater Fails

[spacechump]

<i>OK... active sensing makes sense. That's a lot of money on each probe just to map the surface of any planets though. I would think Hubble can do a lot if only face planets within the solar system. </i><br /><br />Not in the detail the current orbital probes can do it in. Contrary to popular thought the Hubble is not "all that and a bucket of chicken". It works very well for what it was designed to do in its cosmology role and it can image planets but it can only image them as well as its focal point will allow.

 

[halman]

propforce,<br /><br />When dealing with large telescopes, it is important to remember that their primary function is to gather light without distorting it. Magnifying the image often distorts the light, which ruins the observation. Very often, the images that we 'oh' and 'ah' over were created by exposing a certain location in the Cosmos for many minutes, which allows the light to build up the image photon by photon.<br /><br />An interplanetory probe uses cameras which are more like our eyes, able to focus selectively on objects at different ranges, and creating an image in under a second. This still allows high resolution images of nearby objects, because there is a tremendous amount of light bouncing off of the object, compared to the light emitted by a distant sun, which must travel across millions of light years.<br /><br />Also, probes are able to use a multitude of senses, such as magnetic field intensity, temperature, nuetron emission, etcetera. Another important aspect is the ability to see things which are not directly facing the Sun. Observing lightning on Jupiter is much easier on the side facing away from the Sun, and the shadow of Saturn falling across the rings looks very different from near at hand compared to from Earth. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> The secret to peace of mind is a short attention span. </div>

 

[siarad]

Hubble can't even see the largest objects left upon the Moon so is of even less use farther away for details. If it could it'd silence <i>the moon landing never happened brigade</i>. As has been said it's a great light integrator but of low resolution.

 

[davf]

Not contributing to the thread, but I had to say I love that tagline! Sounds like a Jack Handy.