New Horizons Arrives At Ksc |
New Horizons Arrives At Ksc |
Sep 26 2005, 09:56 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 134 Joined: 13-March 05 Member No.: 191 |
NASA Press Release
APL press release Space.com Article Coming up... October: communications checks November: hydrazine loading and Atlas V countdown rehearsal December: integration with Atlas V January: LAUNCH! No pictures on the KSC webcams yet. But still pictures here. Is that the flight RTG attached to the spacecraft? Or just a dummy? |
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Guest_BruceMoomaw_* |
Sep 27 2005, 09:31 AM
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As I understand it, the only possible show-stopper now is that they still need official permission from Bush to launch that much plutonium. I'm sure he'll agree, once they've explained to him what Pluto is.
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Sep 28 2005, 08:36 AM
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Newbie Group: Members Posts: 6 Joined: 23-September 05 Member No.: 504 |
QUOTE (BruceMoomaw @ Sep 27 2005, 10:31 AM) As I understand it, the only possible show-stopper now is that they still need official permission from Bush to launch that much plutonium. I'm sure he'll agree, once they've explained to him what Pluto is. The problem I think is not the presidential approvation to launch NH, but the so-called 'ecologists' à la Bruce Gagnon. I still remember the protesters who tried to stop the launch of Cassini, Galileo and Ulysses even by judicial means, fearing a launch accident or something. live long and prosper Mauro |
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Guest_Richard Trigaux_* |
Sep 28 2005, 09:46 AM
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QUOTE (spfrss @ Sep 28 2005, 08:36 AM) The problem I think is not the presidential approvation to launch NH, but the so-called 'ecologists' à la Bruce Gagnon. I still remember the protesters who tried to stop the launch of Cassini, Galileo and Ulysses even by judicial means, fearing a launch accident or something. live long and prosper Mauro I fully support far exploration, including to far planets. And anyway 30kgs of plutonium in a space probe, it is still that in less on Earth. Good bye and thanks goodness. But what I fear is not ecologists blocking the launch of Cassini; it is rather the following scenario: the launch fails, the rocket explodes... Worse, it let the probe on a long elliptic orbit, letting some days of suspens before the RTG re-enters the atmosphere at 10km/s, dispersing worldwide a deadly dust of plutonium... Still worse, the RTG was hardened to sustain such events, and it falls on the ground... in one of "certain countries". Remember that 7 microgram of plutonium 239 dust is enough to kill somebody (by lung cancer from breathing dust) and Pu 238 is still more active. We cannot say it will never happen. It is simply a matter of statistics: the number of nuclear probes, multiplied by the fail rate of rockets... If such a thing would happen, Mr Bush may definitively forbid the use of RTGs in space probes. And he would not be alone to think so. Bye bye Pluto. OK, this forum is not about ecology. But it is certainly not about burying our head in the sand: space exploration implies some dangers. And thus some responsabilities. Even at our level of simple supporters. Should we abandon the exploration of far planets for this reason? The choice may be not ours. Perhaps there are other less dangerous solutions. Not at hand, but searchable. |
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