Phobos |
Phobos |
Guest_Sunspot_* |
Nov 11 2004, 11:46 PM
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#1
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Guests |
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/
These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, are Europe’s highest-resolution pictures so far of the Martian moon Phobos. http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEM21TVJD1E_0.html |
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Nov 3 2022, 03:00 AM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2091 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
In the long term yes, but that would all be spread out over the next 8-10 years. Since these Phobos flybys are in the next 2 years, the costs of the primary Exomars mission would be being spent right now if not for the delay.
The peak cost is the period before and during a primary mission, from what I read in NASA budgets (like the charts and tables here which show a sort of bell curve and a long 'tail' of minimal expenses for extended missions). I'm assuming the logic works the same with ESA missions. Sorry to get a bit into the weeds on this, but there should be no excused to cancel scientifically significant flybys of a very interesting object! |
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Nov 3 2022, 03:23 PM
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#3
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14433 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
The peak cost is the period before and during a primary mission Spacecraft get cheaper once you launch them. Look at New Horizons, MSL, OSIRIS REX, Juno etc in the amazing TPS Google Doc. The moment you launch them - the cost plummets by a factor of about 4+ The two years of prime mission for MSL averaged ~$80M The six years before that averaged >$300M. Put another way - the ExoMars rover is going to be more expensive now than when it's actually operating. It's going to be more expensive over the next 5 years than had it launched on time and was operating in the same time frame. But again - I agree - the cost of operating MEX is in the weeds compared to the new costs for ExoMars. I fully expect MEX to keep going. Remember - we've had the same "The budget goes to zero in a year" for many other Mars missions that have carried on for year and years thereafter as the budget was found. MSL, Odyssey, MER...all saw similar fiscal outlooks at certain points. |
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Nov 3 2022, 03:34 PM
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#4
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2520 Joined: 13-September 05 Member No.: 497 |
Put another way - the ExoMars rover is going to be more expensive now than when it's actually operating. Well, likely true, but this can depend on how the mission plays out. If they just cancelled it outright it wouldn't cost "anything" (except substantial runout costs, I suspect.) And they could put it into some form of deep hibernation and it might not cost as much as delayed missions under active development would cost for the same period, though this is rarely done (DSCOVR is sort of an example.) Of course, if they end up flying it, it will cost far more than it would have when Russia was involved. Bottom line for MEx; despite statements to the contrary, active missions are rarely cancelled if they are still at all productive. The larger worry for MEx is that the spacecraft is low on fuel, but this seems to have been mitigated to a larger degree than was thought previously (I'm assuming that's just not excessive optimism on someone's part.) -------------------- Disclaimer: This post is based on public information only. Any opinions are my own.
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