Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to re: A mission to the surface of Enceladus

I disagree with Jim.

With all due respect to Jim O, a landing on Enceladus
is scientifically much more profitable than a flyby impact sample collection mission.
And a landing on Enceladus is definitely...definitely...
not much more difficult than an Enceladus orbital mission....in some ways easier.
The scientific payoff will make it worth it; life beneath Enceladus, or no life.
As I've already indicated, the Delta Vee required for a spacecraft orbiting Enceladus, and subsequently landing on its surface, is a little over 150 meters/second [330-340 mph], roughly the speed of a British
World War Two fighter aircraft.

Put it another way: a 4,000Ib spacecraft in orbit around Enceladus
only needs to use 200-250Ibs of it's remaining propellant [NO3/N2H4?] to land.
Isp(vac) NO3/N2H4 = 327 seconds.

Admittedly...a polar landing on Enceladus may require another
50-100 pounds of propellant to adjust the prelanding orbit.
And, yes! Aerobraking or no aerobraking, it will still require
hundreds of pounds, if not over a ton of propellant to achieve
orbital capture by Enceladus.

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