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_AlexBlackwell_* |
Jan 30 2006, 06:25 PM
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#2
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From the January 30, 2006, issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology (World News & Analysis):
ESA Poised to Approve Planet-Finding, Mercury Missions Aviation Week & Space Technology 01/30/2006, page 35 Michael A. Taverna Paris "European Space Agency planners say they may not have to scrub or pare back a major planned science mission. [...] "According to [Henk] Olthof [head of science programs], the two missions most under threat, the Gaia star-mapping probe and BepiColombo Mercury flight, are both expected to receive a green light at the next science program board on Feb. 8-9. Gaia, intended for launch in 2011, has already gone through tender evaluation, and managers will propose at an industry policy committee meeting this week that the mission be awarded to EADS Astrium. Planners are still trying to figure out how to fit in BepiColombo, targeted for a 2013 launch. But they expect to be in a position to tender it later this year, and to select a supplier in the third or fourth quarter. "Olthof says the agency has heeded lessons from previous large missions, which suffered big overruns due to unrealistic funding. The budget envelope will be 550 million euros ($673 million) for Gaia and 650 million euros for BepiColombo--versus 450 million euros previously allocated to large missions." |
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