SDF Launch Date: Is it in the stars?

Re: SDF Launch Date: Is it in the stars?

feeds@kickapps.com (CavScout) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:03:37 PST

Basara 549 wrote:
Once again, thank you for proving me right, Cav.

Somehow I doubt that, but we'll see.

Basara 549 wrote:
Apparently, you don't have the slightest idea what orbital mechanics mean…

Opening with an ad hominem, generally a sign that one's argument is going to be weak. We'll see.

Basara 549 wrote:
Like the fact that, In February, "straight up" from Macross island will be in a RADICALLY different vector in relation to the Sun and planets than in February.

Not sure why this is relevant. The SDF1 isn't some standard rocket using a standard launch trajectory. You are assuming, based on nothing given in the anime, that a fold is simply a faster method of traditional rocketry. For all we know they...

Re: SDF Launch Date: Is it in the stars?

feeds@kickapps.com (Basara 549) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:09:39 PST

Once again, thank you for proving me right, Cav.

Apparently, you don't have the slightest idea what orbital mechanics mean - like the fact that, In February, "straight up" from Macross island will be in a RADICALLY different vector in relation to the Sun and planets than in February. PLUTO'S POSITION was NEVER a factor. The orbit of Pluto is THE ORBIT OF PLUTO, not ORBITING PLUTO. For example, the Trojan points of Jupiter orbit are in Jupiter's orbital path around the sun, as far FROM the sun as Jupiter, but in Jupiter's L4 & L5 positions, 60 degrees further along or behind the planet than Jupiter (hundreds of millions of miles). The spot 93 million miles out from the sun in the opposite direction of Earth is STILL in the orbital distance of the sun from Earth.

In fact, the direction should be about 120 degrees different (using the sun as the center of the circle) in June, than in February, 150 degrees in July. To give you proper...

Re: SDF Launch Date: Is it in the stars?

feeds@kickapps.com (CavScout) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:37:37 PST

That is 12 months of positions. Moving the launch date less than 12 months, in either direction, will not line up Pluto and Saturn for a "return" trip to Earth. The difference in positions of the two planets, vs Feb or Jun, is none existent for our purposes.

I mean, you are not going to argue that this Feb lunch date is disproved by this image:

and that a June launch date is proved by this image:

The planets don't "align" in either date range.

Re: SDF Launch Date: Is it in the stars?

feeds@kickapps.com (Basara 549) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:30:04 PST

note that the February position of Earth, if you draw a line from Earth to the orbit of Pluto from the day side of the planet (fold would take it past the sun at about a 30 to 60 degree angle - remember, it was approaching evening when the SDF-1 folded), puts Saturn in the wrong place for it to be a stopover on the way back to Earth. However, once one gets into late spring or early summer, such a fold would put Saturn at a position in its orbit to be a viable stopover (in other words, the May-August frames). Earlier or later results in a need to travel against the grain of the orbital disk, and risking the mother of all FOD.

Re: SDF Launch Date: Is it in the stars?

feeds@kickapps.com (CavScout) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:16:01 PST

Here it is as an animated gif:

SDF Launch Date: Is it in the stars?

feeds@kickapps.com (CavScout) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:04:12 PST

The other thread about the launch dates got me thinking, I wanted to see what a few months difference would really make in the position of planets regarding when the SDF1 launched. My assumption was the outer planets have such long orbits that, in context with the story, the date shifting would have little real impact. NASA's JPL has a neat tool that allows you to view solar objects by date! So I did, I selected the 15th of each month for the year of 2009. Show me was to "The Solar System" as seen from "above". I left the time at 0:0:0 UTC. I selected I want the body to take up 80% percent of the image width. I only selected orbits to be shown. Here is what I got:

January:

Feburary: