BepiColombo Status |
BepiColombo Status |
Guest_AlexBlackwell_* |
Dec 1 2005, 12:11 AM
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#1
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Excerpt from a News article by Jenny Hogan in the December 1, 2005, issue of Nature:
"The [funding] situation has led to speculation that BepiColombo, a mission destined for a 2013 launch to Mercury, might be cancelled. 'That is the big danger painted in the sky,' says Karl-Heinz Glassmeier, principal investigator on one of the instruments proposed for the spacecraft. "Nerves were set jangling about the project, which also involves the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, after it was postponed because the initial design was too heavy. That problem seems to have been solved, but officials say the estimated cost of the mission, at 600 million [euros] to 650 million [euros], is still more than 100 million [euros] above target." Reference: Europe's cash crisis puts space plans under threat Jenny Hogan Nature 438, 542-543 (2005) doi:10.1038/438542a Full Text |
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Guest_BruceMoomaw_* |
Dec 15 2005, 03:14 AM
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#2
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The Dec. 5 Aviation Week (published prior to the cavalry coming at least temporarily to the rescue) reports that the two ESA science missions in the most danger are BepiColombo and Solar Orbiter, simply because their overruns are biggest -- BC is 150 million Euros over budget and its launch has slipped two years to 2013. (Solar Orbiter is now set for 2014.)
GAIA is in less danger; it's only 40 million Euros over budget (mere chicken feed) and its launch date has in fact advanced to 2011. "Aggravating the shortfall is the agency's current risk-averse approach that saves money up front -- major missions are now expected to cost just 450 million Euros, half the cost of previous ones -- but tends to add costs later, when it's more difficult to turn things around, according to [David] Southwood. A case in point is Herschel-Planck, to be launched in late 2007, which is suffering from a 180 million Euro overrun... "[Southwood] insisted that solutions could yet be found to prevent the ax from falling. For example, Russia is negotiating to launch BepiColombo on a Soyuz booster if the mission can be modified to include a Russian lander. Although ESA is loath to make such a change at this stage of the project, the agency might be willing to do so if the solution is a 'win-win one,' says Southwood." |
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