An empirical correlation is drawn between the science data returned from deep-space missions and the energy required to operate the spacecraft and its payload. This correlation serves to give a simple early estimate of power requirements for planetary missions. Surprisingly, missions follow a linear dependence of the specific energy (joules per bit) with distance from Earth, which is an emergent law that reflects the engineering effort to partially defeat the inverse square law. Proportionalities of 5 mJ / bit / astronomical unit for missions with high-gain antennas and 10 J / bit / astronomical unit for omnidirectional antennas are found. The payload energy costs to acquire the data are examined briefly: except for in situ missions with chemical analyses using relay spacecraft, the acquisition costs are small compared with the spacecraft operation and transmission costs.


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    Title :

    Energy Cost of Acquiring and Transmitting Science Data on Deep-Space Missions


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2015-09-15


    Size :

    5 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English