Flight Question A Proper Slingshot?

[TMac3000]

And I promise I won't blow you guys off this time (sorry about that, btw)

Okay, so I have visited every planet up to Saturn. My next goal is Uranus...eek! 17 years?:OMG:I am not even going to try to get that far without learning how to do a decent sling.

Questions:

How do I find a good launch window for a Jupiter sling that will send me to Uranus?

Will a proper sling actually save me time, or just fuel?

 

[Arrowstar]

A proper sling will probably save you mostly fuel. You can get out there as fast as your launch vehicle will allow, but it's going to cost you deltaV. Slinging by Jupiter might be slower (couldn't tell you by how much, I'm sure it depends on solar system geometry) but it's also basically free. If you want to be realistic, I'd suggest it.

Not to promote my own software (but I'm going to anyway :lol, my trajectory optimization tool can handle finding that Jupiter launch window for you. See OHM (or my signature).

 

[TMac3000]

I will certainly check that out when I get a chance

 

[Veterok]

You can do pretty well by just playing with the eject date in TransX, then opening a scenario at that date. The real easy answer though, is that Voyager 2 launched on August 20th 1977

 

[jedidia]

Will a proper sling actually save me time, or just fuel?

There might be some situations in which a slingshot actually saves time, but usually it saves you fuel at the cost of making the trip longer. The problem is, for a slingshot to have maximum effect, your relative velocity to the body you want to sling around must not be too high in the first place, or it won't relly tug you along that effectively.