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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Feb 17 2006, 05:32 PM
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 220 Joined: 13-October 05 Member No.: 528 |
The article at Spacedaily states that the spacecraft is launched in 2013, and the primary data return is 2018-2020.
This makes it a roughly 5 year trip to Mercury orbit. The last time I read a mission overview the timeline was only about 3 years to Mercury orbit, a quick flight made possible by the inclusion of a solar powered ion propulsion unit on the spacecraft. Presumably this extra delta-v allowed them to avoid the MESSENGER method of multiple Venus and Mercury flybys. What happened? Is the ion drive unit dropped from the mission? |
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Guest_AlexBlackwell_* |
Feb 17 2006, 05:41 PM
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#3
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The article at Spacedaily states that the spacecraft is launched in 2013, and the primary data return is 2018-2020. This makes it a roughly 5 year trip to Mercury orbit. The last time I read a mission overview the timeline was only about 3 years to Mercury orbit, a quick flight made possible by the inclusion of a solar powered ion propulsion unit on the spacecraft. Presumably this extra delta-v allowed them to avoid the MESSENGER method of multiple Venus and Mercury flybys. What happened? Is the ion drive unit dropped from the mission? The mission design has changed over the past few years as the payload (MSE dropped) and launch vehicle (Soyuz-Fregat vs. Ariane 5) were decided. Check the BepiColombo fact sheet for a few details. In short, ion propulsion is still baselined for the cruise phase; however, gravity assists from Earth, Venus, and Mercury are planned. Sound familiar? In fact, I think there was once (and still may be) an option for a lunar gravity assist with Soyuz-Fregat in addition to the others. |
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