How NASA Is Saving Fuel On Its Outer Solar System Missions

While Saturn is far away from us, scientists have just found a way to make the journey there easier. A new technique pinpointed the position of the ringed gas giant to within just two miles (four kilometers).

It’s an impressive technological feat that will improve spacecraft navigation and also help us better understand the orbits of the outer planets, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said.

It’s remarkable how much there is to learn about Saturn’s position given that the ancients discovered it, and it’s easily visible with the naked eye. That said, the new measurements with the Cassini  spacecraft and the Very Long Baseline Array radio telescope array are 50 times more precise than previous measurements with telescopes on the ground.

“This work is a great step toward tying together our understanding of the orbits of the outer planets of our solar system and those of the inner planets,” stated study leader Dayton Jones of JPL.

What’s even more interesting is scientists have been using the better information as it comes in. Cassini began using the improved method in 2013 to improve its precision when it fires its engines.

This, in the long term, leads to fuel savings — allowing the spacecraft a better chance of surviving through the end of its latest mission extension, which currently is 2017. (It’s been orbiting Saturn since 2004.)

The technique is so successful that NASA plans to use the same method for the Juno spacecraft, which is en route to Jupiter for a 2016 arrival.

Scientists are excited about Cassini’s mission right now because it is allowing them to observe the planet and its moons as it reaches the summer solstice of its 29-year orbit.

This could, for example, provide information on how the climate of the moon Titan changes — particularly with regard to its atmosphere and ethane/methane-riddled seas, both believed to be huge influencers for the moon’s temperature.

Beyond the practical applications, the improved measurements of Saturn and Cassini’s position are also giving scientists more insight into Albert Einstein’s theory of general relatively, JPL stated. They are taking the same techniques and applying them to observing quasars — black-hole powered galaxies — when Saturn passes in front of them from the viewpoint of Earth.

Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory