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48iCmE1.gif

 

Path of the probe to the comet:

 

There's a game available - more simulation than game, really, as there's no "winning" - called Kerbal Space Program. Neat little concept that puts you in charge of the space program for a race of green little blockheads called Kerbals, where you can design and build your own rockets, plan missions, and generally kill lots of Kerbals in a variety of different and entertaining ways.

 

But it gives you a whole solar system of planets and moons (no asteroids or comets yet) to explore, and is an amazing tool for learning about orbital mechanics, as it has a very robust orbital physics model. Robust enough to plan and execute a gravity assist orbit. Which I've tried...and it is insanely difficult. In a simulation.

 

Which gives me a new appreciation for that graphic. Download the game and try it, and you'll gain all sorts of insight into how utterly bug!@#$ insane it is that we, as a species, can launch a Volkswagon into space, and hit a 4000-meter object ten years later dead-on after four gravity-assist passes.

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