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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Mar 30 2010, 04:56 AM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 |
I wouldn't expect it to be the main proposal, but I'm still a bit surprised not to see it mentioned at all -- if only to show that the stated cost is conservative.
To turn it around, I'll be curious to see at what point we DO start seeing Falcons in the proposals. --Greg |
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Mar 30 2010, 07:52 PM
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#3
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Member Group: Members Posts: 540 Joined: 25-October 05 From: California Member No.: 535 |
I wouldn't expect it to be the main proposal, but I'm still a bit surprised not to see it mentioned at all -- if only to show that the stated cost is conservative. To turn it around, I'll be curious to see at what point we DO start seeing Falcons in the proposals. --Greg I assume it won't be till after 2011...when Falcon proves its mettle in safely delivering cargo (and/or crew) to the ISS. -------------------- 2011 JPL Tweetup photos: http://www.rich-parno.com/aa_jpltweetup.html
http://human-spaceflight.blogspot.com |
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Mar 30 2010, 08:27 PM
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#4
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3648 Joined: 1-October 05 From: Croatia Member No.: 523 |
I assume it won't be till after 2011...when Falcon proves its mettle in safely delivering cargo (and/or crew) to the ISS. There's more to it than just the price of a launch vehicle, some payloads for example impose requirements like vertical integration (F9 is integrated horizontally), access to payload at all times before launch campaign without needing to say destack the vehicle, ground support equipment requirements, etc. SpaceX was awarded a NASA's Launch Services contract two years ago and they're still yet to win a launch contract. Atlas V still wins payloads even though it is overpowered for some of the spacecraft (with Delta II being phased out and becoming too expensive), F9 is still too risky and unproven. Keep in mind F9 price down the road also needs to stabilize once the vehicle becomes operational and true costs become clear. -------------------- |
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Jun 27 2010, 10:37 AM
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#5
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 57 Joined: 13-February 06 From: Brisbane, Australia Member No.: 679 |
There's more to it than just the price of a launch vehicle, some payloads for example impose requirements like vertical integration (F9 is integrated horizontally), access to payload at all times before launch campaign without needing to say destack the vehicle, ground support equipment requirements, etc. SpaceX was awarded a NASA's Launch Services contract two years ago and they're still yet to win a launch contract. Atlas V still wins payloads even though it is overpowered for some of the spacecraft (with Delta II being phased out and becoming too expensive), F9 is still too risky and unproven. Keep in mind F9 price down the road also needs to stabilize once the vehicle becomes operational and true costs become clear. Nice to see Musk's bird finally took wing and they've won the Iridium upgrade contract. Of course there's no such thing as statistics based on one example, thus the next few launches will be watched very carefully indeed. Need I say it? Go ARGOS! |
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