Probing the Darkness

Finally got some superglue, so got back to a bit of guerilla modelling again recently. More to pass the time than for any specific reason, I find the process of free-building something without any specific goal in mind is quite therapeutic. Rooting about in the parts box, I found an interesting black plastic piece, which resembled the chamber of a revolver and put me in mind of the SWORD Task Force engines, so I started there and worked outwards. Another small xmas bauble turned up, which made me think of the Soviet Luna 16 Moon Probe and I worked along those lines.

With the upcoming landing of the new Mars 2020 Probe and Perseverance Lander in just a few weeks, I am fascinated with space probe technology and the plethora of new finds and discoveries which are appearing monthly on the NASA/JPL site is amazing. The revelation of the host of new Dwarf Planets that have been added to the system - at least five main ones: Ceres, Pluto, Makemake, Haumea and Eris - adds a whole new dimension to my historical perception of a system of nine major planets.

With most of the new discoveries being classed as 'KBO' or Kuiper Belt Objects - the region of dust and rock on the edge of the solar system, I thought I would build something which might be capable of reaching this distant part of space and landing on one of the KBO's to analyse its composition and return a sample back to Earth. 

Looking at the many deep space probe designs such as Pioneer, Voyager, New Horizons and Dawn, I got a general 'feel' for the make up of the probe and worked out from there. Based around a central core, the probe would be powered by a high efficiency Ion Drive engine, driven by a small nuclear pile. On arrival at the target body, chemical engines in the landing struts would allow a soft touchdown on the surface and the long retractable sample arm would gather material which would be collected and stored in the upper capsule. After completing the experiments, the probe would lift off for return to Earth. The upper ascent stage would detach in orbit and bring the spherical sample capsule back to a soft parachute landing on return. Given the penchant for naming probes after mythological figures, I decided to name this one 'Erebus' after the greek god of Darkness.