Onwards to Uranus and Neptune! |
Onwards to Uranus and Neptune! |
Jan 12 2008, 09:40 PM
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 813 Joined: 8-February 04 From: Arabia Terra Member No.: 12 |
As soon as MESSENGER gets to Mercury, the most poorly explored planets in the solar system will be Uranus and Neptune. Could this lead to a revival of interest in the ice giants and their retinue, in the same way that the existence of New Horizons is perhaps partly due to the Pluto stamp*?
*via Pluto Fast Flyby and later Pluto Kuiper Express |
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Aug 15 2009, 04:36 PM
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 646 Joined: 23-December 05 From: Forest of Dean Member No.: 617 |
50 mT to Mars! _wow_. That would open up a whole new vista for the fun game of Fantasy UMSF.
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Viva software libre! |
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Aug 15 2009, 06:16 PM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3648 Joined: 1-October 05 From: Croatia Member No.: 523 |
Yes, except for two inconvenient facts:
1) should the "classic" Ares V ever materialize, it will be expensive as hell 2) Spacecraft are usually many times more expensive than the launch vehicle. It's not a problem of launching a largish spacecraft into space, it's a problem of funding it in the first place. See JWST. I would put my hand in the fire that no unmanned spacecraft would ever be launched on a dedicated Ares V launch. -------------------- |
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