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Exploration of our Solar System

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Future Spacecraft Propulsion Systems

Part of the book series: Springer Praxis Books ((ASTROENG))

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Abstract

Distances to places within our Solar System in Chapter 1 (see Figure 7.2) provided a yardstick to measure human ambition. At its speed (about 300,000 km/s), light traveling from the Earth to Pluto would reach it (in the average) in 5.45 hours. The highest speed reached by human handicraft is probably the Cassini-Huygens probe while traveling to Saturn in 2004 at about 40 km/s, or 7,500 times less than the speed of light. The minimum δV needed to reach destinations in our Solar System are extremely small when compared with the speed of light (see Figure 7.1).

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(2009). Exploration of our Solar System. In: Future Spacecraft Propulsion Systems. Springer Praxis Books. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-88814-7_8

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