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SCIENCE: Probe has landed on Titan...pics due soon

Why can't we get good pictures from these things? I mean my digital camera takes better pictures. Is it because when we sent these things into space the technology was old?

The Mars one was great, A+. I still haven't seen anypictures from this one other than the one on CNN.
 
Originally posted by: Aimster
Why can't we get good pictures from these things? I mean my digital camera takes better pictures. Is it because when we sent these things into space the technology was old?

The Mars one was great, A+. I still haven't seen anypictures from this one other than the one on CNN.
Click to expand...

These are early pics...

remember it takes a long time to transmit pics of hi quality over millions of miles. Its not exactly Cable Internet speeds.
 
Originally posted by: GoPackGo
Originally posted by: Aimster
Why can't we get good pictures from these things? I mean my digital camera takes better pictures. Is it because when we sent these things into space the technology was old?

The Mars one was great, A+. I still haven't seen anypictures from this one other than the one on CNN.
Click to expand...

These are early pics...

remember it takes a long time to transmit pics of hi quality over millions of miles. Its not exactly Cable Internet speeds.
Click to expand...

Isn't one element also that you don't have as much light out there so we're not going to get any real color shots? Let's face it, color shots are sexier.
 
I doubt we'll many color pictures (if any). The bandwidth is fraction of mars rover, and the lifetime of the probe was too short to bother wasting resources.

Leon
 
Originally posted by: GoPackGo
Originally posted by: Aimster
Why can't we get good pictures from these things? I mean my digital camera takes better pictures. Is it because when we sent these things into space the technology was old?

The Mars one was great, A+. I still haven't seen anypictures from this one other than the one on CNN.
Click to expand...

These are early pics...

remember it takes a long time to transmit pics of hi quality over millions of miles. Its not exactly Cable Internet speeds.
Click to expand...
The tech wasn't as good either. The mission was launched over 7 years ago. Factor some R&D and engineering time into that and the actual tech is pretty ancient, in tech years at least.

The pics are pretty interesting. Rivers of some sort of hydrocarbon, posibly ethane or methane. Must be a completely oxygen-free environment or the surface of Titan would be in flames.

 
Originally posted by: GoPackGo
Originally posted by: Aimster
Why can't we get good pictures from these things? I mean my digital camera takes better pictures. Is it because when we sent these things into space the technology was old?

The Mars one was great, A+. I still haven't seen anypictures from this one other than the one on CNN.
Click to expand...

These are early pics...

remember it takes a long time to transmit pics of hi quality over millions of miles. Its not exactly Cable Internet speeds.
Click to expand...

Plus who knows what these cameras are able to shoot at extreme shock freezing 80K.

 
Originally posted by: Infohawk
Why is the lifetime of the probe so short?
Click to expand...


It is dark, this means all you have for energy is batteries - solar cells aint gonna cut it. Plus it cold, I mean it is so cold that the electrons in the solar cells would probably hardly move 😉 , 80K.

Batteries work by chemical reactions and those are slower and harder to initate when it is colder - we all know how short the battery life is in the cold.

That basically means very limited life time - unless they had a nuclear power cell - and those arent to popular to shoot into space anymore and I dont think they would have put such a nuclear power source onto an outer space "planet" on the first visit.
 
Is plutonium volatile in all states? Would we ever be ever to rocket up plutonium as fuel and construct nuclear reactors in space?

Is there plutonium on Mars or the Moon? (I'm thinking no)
 
Originally posted by: Infohawk
Is plutonium volatile in all states? Would we ever be ever to rocket up plutonium as fuel and construct nuclear reactors in space?

Is there plutonium on Mars or the Moon? (I'm thinking no)
Click to expand...

Both we and the Russians have launched space based nuclear reactors. We only launched 1 they launched about 20 if I remember correctly.

Plus we use Plutonium as heaters on the Mars landers and in RTGs. Voyagers RTG can provide enough power for another 10 or 15 years if I remember (Only about 300 to 500 watts however).

 
Originally posted by: Paratus
Originally posted by: Infohawk
Is plutonium volatile in all states? Would we ever be ever to rocket up plutonium as fuel and construct nuclear reactors in space?

Is there plutonium on Mars or the Moon? (I'm thinking no)
Click to expand...

Both we and the Russians have launched space based nuclear reactors. We only launched 1 they launched about 20 if I remember correctly.

Plus we use Plutonium as heaters on the Mars landers and in RTGs. Voyagers RTG can provide enough power for another 10 or 15 years if I remember (Only about 300 to 500 watts however).
Click to expand...

Well, it is not really a nuclear reactor in the sense that we use nuclear reactors in NPPs - it is more like a nuclear battary. Im not quite sure how exactly it works bit I think it has to do with the heat generated by nuclear decay.
 
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