BepiColombo Status |
BepiColombo Status |
Guest_AlexBlackwell_* |
Dec 1 2005, 12:11 AM
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#1
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Excerpt from a News article by Jenny Hogan in the December 1, 2005, issue of Nature:
"The [funding] situation has led to speculation that BepiColombo, a mission destined for a 2013 launch to Mercury, might be cancelled. 'That is the big danger painted in the sky,' says Karl-Heinz Glassmeier, principal investigator on one of the instruments proposed for the spacecraft. "Nerves were set jangling about the project, which also involves the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, after it was postponed because the initial design was too heavy. That problem seems to have been solved, but officials say the estimated cost of the mission, at 600 million [euros] to 650 million [euros], is still more than 100 million [euros] above target." Reference: Europe's cash crisis puts space plans under threat Jenny Hogan Nature 438, 542-543 (2005) doi:10.1038/438542a Full Text |
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Jan 20 2008, 10:54 PM
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 220 Joined: 13-October 05 Member No.: 528 |
I see your point about wanting there to be a balance on missions, and not focus too much on one spot when so many tempting targets stand waiting.
But given that there have been only 2 missions to Mercury so far, I'm not that bothered by the idea of Bepi Columbo heading there a full decade after Messenger. In fact, I rather like the idea that some targets get a series of missions so that our knowledge about them slowly expands rather than jump up dramatically, then just come to a halt for decades. (such as happened with the Mars Viking missions) Besides.... better another two orbiters at Mercury (Bepi-Columbo has two orbiters) than yet another Moon mission. I understand that countries like China and India are getting their space legs and gathering experience by doing the lunar missions, but personally I just don't do handsprings of excitement over the idea that we will have 4 lunar orbiters launched over a 2 year period. |
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