I'm glad someone else is following the Mercury probes. I have a few questions about the issues getting to the planet.
#1) Why does it take as much fuel to get to Mercury as it does to get to Saturn??
#2) Why so many gravity assists? Wouldn't it be faster with less? The ESA space craft is using ION propulsion so I understand why it takes forever to get there and needing the gravity assists.
#3) Wouldn't a straighter path take less fuel and save money??
The probe is treking almost 5 billion miles to get to a planet that is only about a third the Earth's distance from the Sun.
I know its close proximity to the Sun has unique challenges but.... the stats seem way out of whack......
Can someone educate me on the specifics please??