At 08:34 AM 7/3/01, you wrote:
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Alberto Monteiro" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2001 8:15 AM
>Subject: Re: Bill Moyers Reports: Earth on Edge
>
> > Also, to get to the Sun it's cheaper to go to Jupiter and
> > then get back.
> >
>
>IIRC, there was a near sun probe that did use Jupiter.
>
>Dan M.
That was the _Ulysses_ probe. One of the main reasons for its doing a
Jupiter flyby was to send it into a solar _polar_ orbit. I'm not sure if a
Jupiter flyby would be as much needed if a large plane change was not
required, i.e., if the garbage ship stayed more or less within the ecliptic
plane.
Note also that the last couple of probes that went to or by Jupiter
required first multiple flybys of Earth and Venus to build up the speed
necessary to get to Jupiter. With all the fuss that was made over them in
regards to "What if it is a little off-course for the Earth flyby and so it
crashes into Earth and releases the 70-odd pounds of plutonium in the
RTGs?", one can imagine the reaction there would be to flying a ship
containing tons of nuclear waste destined for disposal in the Sun to within
a few hundred km of the Earth, perhaps repeatedly . . .
Here's a thought for someone to work on: might it be cheaper to send the
disposal ships containing nuclear waste to crash into _Jupiter_ rather than
the Sun? That would get rid of it just as effectively, as far as humans
are concerned. Though hypothetical Jovians might not appreciate it as much
. . .
-- Ronn! :)
