Our solar system is vast.
It would be wonderful to cruise its outer edges.
In the meantime one of the residents of the outer edge, the secretive world of Sedna, is cruising towards us!
Flinging itself a mighty 11,000 years to get round the system, Sedna will be closest to Earth in the year 2074.
I'll be 104 years old and my Grandson, Moonbase Junior, will be 69.
This is the only chance NASA has to send anything to Sedna in the next 11,000 years!
To get anything there they'll have to plan ahead though.
A lot ahead as it happens.
The journey will take around 30 years so a probe would have to launch sometime between 2030 and 2040 to reach Sedna as it nears.
Even then its a long shot. Sedna at its closest point to the Sun will still be a massive 79 au. That's 74 x the distance from the Earth to the Sun.
In other words, 11 billion kilometres from us!
Our old pal Pluto is half that!
So Sedna on its best day will be twice as far as Pluto.
If a probe reached the planetoid, the most NASA can hope for is a slowish flyby to photograph the lost world and take a few tests.
Its a shame I won't be around to see the pics but it's exciting to know that my Grandson should be.
Do you think NASA should go to Sedna readers?
What do you mean won't be around? I sincerely hope you're still doing this blog at 104. I want to be reading it too!
ReplyDeleteha ha, I imagine there'll be something other than the internet by then. Maybe a hologram. You don't want a hologram of me, Scoop and Wote in your front room do you?
Delete2074 !
ReplyDeleteWon't we just be able to send Zero X there by then ?
Yay! Thunderbirds technology! Where's Brains when you need him!
DeleteSpeaking of interstellar travel, Ive just finished Andy Weir (The Martian) latest novel 'Project Hail Mary', soon to be a live action film. Just like the Martian, its very science heavy, but written in a way that is digestible and entertaining. Have to say its one of the best hard sci fi stories ive read in a while and well worth seeking out!
ReplyDeleteFull of Grace... sounds good Wote. I loved the movie The Martian. The idea that junk tech is lying around on the moon and Mars fascinates me. I nearly went to see Moonfall last night but the £18 price tag put me off - ony DX seats available when we got there - and the Kermode review was terrible.
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