Mikayla

=Mikayla - engineer=

Ion propulsion
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[] [] We are now taking off, headed to one of Uranus' moons, Cordelia. Our ship is powered through ion propulsion. This is what it looks like (insert pic here). Ion propulsion uses ions (electrically charged atoms or molecules). Our ship reaches speed of 90,000 meters per second and has a fuel efficiency of over 90%. It will take us 808.02 days (2 years and 78 days) round trip, but our crew is planning to spend a longer time on Cordelia, moving the time we are in space up to approximately 3 years. Our propellant is xenon, an inert gas. The //Luce Stellare// has 5 main parts to the propulsion system - the power source (which uses sunlight and solar cells), the power processing unit (which converts the power from the source into what is required for each part of the ion thruster and generates the voltages that the discharge chamber and ion optics need), the propellant management system (which controls the flow of propellant to the thruster and hollow cathodes from the propellant tank), the control computer (which monitors system performance), and the ion thruster (which processes the propellant and power to propel the //Luce Stellare//. In order to ionize the atoms in the thruster, we use electronic bombardment: a method where a high energy electron and a propellant atom (with negative and neutral charge) collide and an electron is released with one positive ion and two negative electrons. These electrons are then redirected into the discharge chamber by strong magnets along the walls. We look forward to completing our missions on Cordelia.

Av. distance Earth-Cordelia 3,141,547,920,000 meters

We are now on Cordelia, and have been collecting data about this moon. It's surface is dark (it has an albedo of 0.07) and carbon rich, similar to some asteroids. Much to my surprise (although I think the rest of my crew was anxiously awaiting the confirm of this thought) Cordelia may be open to some life sustainability although only for short periods of time. We have to use oxygen and spacesuits at all times, but if there were stations or buildings built with this, that may not be a problem. I estimate the mass at about 45,259,316,837,540,000 kilograms, close to the previous estimates but a little more. Cordelia really is very different from earth, and I doubt I'm the only one who is getting homesick. From Cordelia we can see 11 miniature moons between it, Ophelia, and Miranda. This adds 3 more to the estimated 8, and these confine the inner rings' edges. All are in a crowded, confined area. They are interesting to watch, but I wonder how they manage not to collide. Well, I look forward to the ride back, and being back on Earth. Maybe we won't be the only people to land on Cordelia. It could be you next!