For this Assignment we were put into a group and had to pick a planet or moon. Our goal for this whole assignment is to create a vehicle that can drive 5Km to a point and drive 5Km back on our chosen planet.
My group decided on the planet Ganymede, which is one of Jupiter’s moons and is also one of the largest moons in our solar system. It has a gravity of 1.428 m/s², and for reference Earth has around 9.807 m/s². One of the main reasons we picked this planet was it had an atmosphere with oxygen and nitrogen. This makes it possible for combustion engines to function meaning our vehicle wouldn’t need to have complicated thrusters but could have simple reliable engines that we use here on Earth.
Opportunities that present themselves are combustion engines that I have stated earlier, as well as the possibility for drinking water, as there is ice and an underwater ocean. The atmosphere and magnetic field also could allow us to live similar lives to earth asides from the temperature.
One of the main challenges is going to be keeping our vehicle on the ground or at least not it flying out of the atmosphere depending on how we design our vehicle to travel whether that be by ground or air. Another challenge would be the temperature, as it ranges from -297 to -171 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that we need to design our vehicle to be able to operate at cold temperatures, as well as keeping its occupants safe and warm. The terrain is around 40% highly cratered 60% lightly grooved all the while being icy, meaning our vehicle would need to be designed with offroad capabilities and possible recovery features if it gets stuck in a large crater. We would also need to design the electronics to be specific to Ganymede as it has its own magnetic field which could cause electronics to go haywire if not designed properly.
My group and I came up with a design statement in which we will create our vehicle off of:
Our team must design an efficient transportation method, both without wasting excess energy and without wasting time, capable of a 5-kilometre-long round trip on Ganymede, one of Jupiter’s moons. This vehicle must handle extreme conditions including temperatures as low as -180C, low gravity(a tenth of Earth’s), rocky terrain, and interference from the planet’s magnetic field affecting electronics.
This design statement focuses on the implications that our vehicle must be able to overcome while on this planet, being the temperature, gravity, terrain, and the magnetic field. It also shows how we should be able to create our vehicle in an efficient way, ensuring that we don’t waste unnecessary amounts of resources on travel.
I Made sure that I only used published research paper, or information from reputable science websites. That being said, I did not use NASA except if I found the original page, and not the basic info pages they have on their public website. The information I used was captured by space probe Galileo who made 8 flybys and collecting the information on the temperature, gravity, and atmosphere which I earlier. Specifically, Galileo discovered that Ganymede has its own magnetosphere, the only moon in the atmosphere to have it. The Galileo Probe also captured sounds of static caused by the magnetosphere, and the probe flew within 520 miles of Ganymede and sent back close up images which show cratered ice fields, mountains, and volcanic plains. Onboard Galileo, it featured instruments such as an onboard magnetometer (MAG), solid-state 46 imaging camera (SSI), and a near-infrared mapping spectrometer (NIMS), and many others to capture accurate info. Below are all of my sources, including specific ones for each of the onboard measuring devices, as well as the findings of the Galileo Probe.
Roth, L. (2021, June 26). Hubble finds first evidence of water vapour at Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede. www.esahubble.org. https://esahubble.org/news/heic2107/
NASA. (1998, April 2). Catalog page for PIA01232. NASA. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01232?form=MG0AV3
Belton, M. (n.d.). NASA – NSSDCA – Experiment – Details. Nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov; Nasa. Retrieved November 18, 2024, from https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1989-084B-10
Gov, C., Solomonidou, A., & Stephan, K. (n.d.). Physical Chemistry and Thermal Evolution of Ices at Ganymede 1 C. Ahrens, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Nasa. Retrieved November 18, 2024, from https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20210014758/downloads/GanymedeCh2-6_AhrensEtAl_FINALv2.pdf
Carlson, R. (n.d.). NASA – NSSDCA – Experiment – Details. Nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved November 18, 2024, from https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1989-084B-01
Pappalardo, R., Collins, G., Head, J., Helfenstein, P., Mccord, T., Moore, J., Prockter, L., Schenk, P., & Spencer, J. (n.d.). Geology of Ganymede. https://lasp.colorado.edu/mop/files/2015/08/jupiter_ch16-1.pdf
Kivelson, M. (n.d.). NASA – NSSDCA – Experiment – Details. Nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov; Nasa. Retrieved November 18, 2024, from https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1989-084B-01
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