HOME | DD
francisdrakex β Solar-electric powered to Mars
Published: 2017-02-24 21:29:05 +0000 UTC; Views: 2153; Favourites: 26; Downloads: 24
Redirect to original
Description
High above the Martian surface the crew of the solar-electric tug prepares the Mars lander for its descent. The UFO-shaped body up front is the inflated high-speed decelerator heat shield of the lander.The scene is rendered in Orbiter 2016.
Related content
Comments: 6
Hi, sorry for the delay in the answer. This was made in Orbiter 2016 (not in KSP). I made the Mars lander and needed a docking target to fly to and from. So I made this solar powered ship, which was a concept study at this time.
π: 0 β©: 0
If the ship is solar power, why is the engine on the end of a truss like a nuclear powered craft? The truss is just extra weight where every gram counts on spaceships.
π: 0 β©: 1
Good point! The ship is roughly modelled after various concepts of Boeing as shown onΒ
www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/0β¦
My guess is this allows the solar panels to rotate through the fore-aft axis without getting damaged by the exhaust plume. If the center boom was shorter, the engine exhaust would impinge on the inner panels and charge them electrostatically.
To avoid this, the inner panels would have to be further outward and shorter. Then the cross-boom becomes longer, or the usable solar cell area would be reduced.Β
So the shape here is a trade-off between overall size (and weight) versus the usable area of solar cells.
π: 0 β©: 0
Good work, that is, need to increase anti-aliasing.
π: 0 β©: 1
Agree! Obiter's built-in renderer is optimized for speed, not quality. There is an alternative available, but I did not try it yet.
π: 0 β©: 0