01:750:109 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Sample-Return Mission, Oort Cloud, Kuiper Belt

• School: Rutgers University
• Department: Physics
• Course: 01:750:109
• Professor: Dr. Andres Jerez

Document Summary

Any theory of the formation of the solar system should explain the following: Planetary orbits, nearly circular, lie in the same (ecliptic) plane. Planets orbit the sun in the same direction as sun"s rotation. Most planets rotate in the same direction as they orbit the sun. Most large moons orbit their planets in the direction of rotation of the planet. Rotation of venus, retrograde moons, earth"s moon . Flyby: flies by another world only once. Orbiter: goes into orbit around another world. Sample return mission: returns a sample of another world"s surface to earth. Most famous are missions to moon (sent and brought back people and samples from moon) Mars has gravity of earth, need a large rocket to escape gravity of mars and come back. Requires an amount of energy not available to us. The nebular theory states that our solar system formed from the gravitational collapse of a giant interstellar gas cloud - the solar nebula.