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, 10:19 PM
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#2
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8784 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Sad but true. The Saturn V was never used for UMSF for the same reason, even though the original Voyager Mars concept (which evolved into Viking) did envision two Saturn launches.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Aug 17 2009, 06:26 PM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1584 Joined: 14-October 05 From: Vermont Member No.: 530 |
Sad but true. The Saturn V was never used for UMSF for the same reason, even though the original Voyager Mars concept (which evolved into Viking) did envision two Saturn launches. And was envisioned for some brutishly huge MSR missions. If you have two separate huge landers-- an MSL-class rover and a large direct-to-earth ascent module-- is there any benefit to one Ares V rather than two Titans? Or two Ariane Vs... or whatever. Is it more economical to launch two things going the same place in one big launcher? |
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Aug 17 2009, 11:14 PM
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#4
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8784 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Is it more economical to launch two things going the same place in one big launcher? Yeah, generally, although there is a risk tradeoff to consider...'all the eggs in one basket'. If you recall, most of the missions from Voyager on back were pairs but on independent boosters, and at least part of the rationale for that strategy was ensure that the whole project wouldn't be sunk by a booster failure. I'm sure that applied to the MERs as well. This was wise, considering that Mariners 1, 3, and 8 all splashed. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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