OPAG Reports, Formal proposals/evaluations of future outer SS missions |
OPAG Reports, Formal proposals/evaluations of future outer SS missions |
Nov 9 2007, 08:28 PM
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#201
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/announcements.html
That's one little URL with a lifetime's worth of reading material. Three detailed studies are available in PDF format. The missing body is Titan, which will be the subject of a forthcoming report. The three focus missions are: Europa Explorer: Fairly detailed description of a mission that is pretty much what Europa Orbiter would have been. Jupiter System Observer: Basically, Galileo 2 (without the antenna mishap!). The craft would start with a 3-year tour of all the Galileans, then spend 1 year in an elliptical Ganymede orbit, then the rest of the mission in a tight, polar Ganymede orbit (like MGS at Mars). That would map the heck out of Ganymede, but also be close enough to the rest of the system to make long-range observations for years. Note that Ganymede would thereby provide a lot of radiation shielding. Enceladus: where three profiles are examined in depth: Enceladus Orbiter only; Enceladus Orbiter with soft lander; Saturn orbiter with Enceladus soft lander. There's more to chew on here than I have had (or may ever have) time for, but I'll throw in my two cents' worth: Seems like a Europa-only mission would only benefit from coming after a JSO. EE would explore Europa much better than JSO would; why even have JSO observations at Europa if EE came first? In many ways, these two missions are competitive. EE would have the big payoff, but JSO seems like basic recon that would prime EE, especially giving specs on radar performance. But if we waited til JSO was 4 years into its mission before completing design of EE, then put EE sometime mid-century. If an Enceladus mission included a Saturn orbiter, then maybe the same orbiter could provide data relay for separate Titan elements. However, a lot of the Enceladus science goals would require an Enceladus orbiter, so I don't think a Saturn orbiter for Enceladus/Titan will win out. Note that Enceladus orbital velocity is low enough that the craft could manage to take lots of hits from ice pellets and survive. Put a bulletproof vest on the craft and let it soar through the plumes endlessly. |
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Feb 13 2009, 10:40 PM
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#202
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Member Group: Members Posts: 220 Joined: 13-October 05 Member No.: 528 |
I also am saddened by the ever widening gab between the launch of Cassini in 1997 and the next flagship. I was born just after Sputnik, and this next one may be the last flagship results that I get to see.
On a much more positive note, keep in mind that Flagships are not the only game in (the outer planets part of ) town. Juno and New Horizons are both New Frontiers missions. Proposed missions like Argo (Neptune, Kuiper Belt flybys) and Io Volcanic Observer are quite feasable for a sub billion dollar budget. I'm very hopeful that we will see a few more of the New Frontiers and Discovery missions aimed at the outer planets in the next two decades. And finally the other space faring nations are starting their own planetary missions. We almost have a flotilla of lunar orbiters at the moment, none of them launched by the US, Russia, or ESA. Japan is working on a Venus Orbiter, and a Mercury Orbiter. India is expressing interest in Mars. China has a tag-along orbiter as part of the Phobos-Grunt mission. Times are a changing, and not all the news is bad. |
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