NASA Dawn Asteroid Mission Told to "Stand Back Up", Reinstated! |
NASA Dawn Asteroid Mission Told to "Stand Back Up", Reinstated! |
Mar 28 2006, 07:58 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Just 'cause I said I would...
Hopefully, though, this whole episode has made its point -- NASA isn't afraid to tell overbudget missions to stand down. I just *really* wish we could get the magnetometer back on the beastie, though... -the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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Guest_Analyst_* |
Apr 18 2006, 10:59 AM
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Guests |
What has been the problem with the Discovery 11 AO? There was no mission selection, but why?
Bruce, I am sure you know the story. Analyst |
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Guest_BruceMoomaw_* |
Apr 18 2006, 09:48 PM
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Guests |
What has been the problem with the Discovery 11 AO? There was no mission selection, but why? Bruce, I am sure you know the story. Analyst Oh, yes. What happened was simply that the 2004 selection board concluded that the $350 million cost cap was seriously outdated, given (1) general inflation, (2) the more rapidly rising cost of Delta 2 boosters, and (3) the brutal fact that almost all the missions that can be cheaply done with present-day technology but are still scientifically worthwhile have already been done. They ended up saying that there was NO candidate within that cost cap for which they had enough faith in both its reliability and its scientific productivity. The first meeting of the Solar System Strategic Roadmap Committee in December 2004 was bloody furious to hear about this -- and just last November, Mike Dantzler told the COMPLEX group that if the $350 million cap was maintained (as Sen. Mikulski was still insisting on at that point), he might be able to dredge up "one scientifically worthwhile finalist candidate from among the proposals that will be offered in response to the next AO, but I very much doubt I'll be able to find two". The planetary science community then made enough of a stink about this that Mikulski and the rest of Congress finally backed down and raised the cap to $425 million for the current selection. |
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