Jupiter flagship selected Options

[volcanopele]

mps, don't worry, you are not the only one As I have done so much work on Titan and that is my second favorite celestial body, I would have been fine with TSSM. But the Jupiter system really needed the kind of treatment Cassini has given Saturn, and more. EJSM does that. And of course it studies Europa and Ganymede quite extensively too.

[alphacenturai]

Well this is indeed a fascinating news, like long way to go but still something to look forward to. For last 10 years, just following the Cassini mission has been nothing short of a blessing, and hopefully getting an opportunity to live for another Outer planet Flagship mission is just too captivating.
EJSM or TSSM , both are amazing missions and will keep all of us busy to cherish this fascinating world of planetary exploration ! Good luck to NASA & ESA

[ngunn]

the Saturn elements needed more technical study.

That would be the European in situ elements presumably. The irony is that ESA could hardly have passed up an opportunity to do those really exciting things, whereas there must now be a finite risk of no European contribution at all. I do hope I'm wrong.

If there is going to be continuing close cooperation between NASA and ESA on big projects it would be nice if they could synchronise their decision schedules.

Go Ganymede!

[K-P]

Great great news! I was also at first a bit pro-titan but now i feel fine with this decision, actually quite positive, because both missions have been recognized important ones and are moving forward. As mentioned here before I also believe "Cassini's goodness" was one reason why Jupiter is now getting its shot. And to be honest, we really need a Europa orbiter, finally. Science moves on small steps and this way we will eventually have Europa lander/driller/diver sooner in the still distant future. This also levels nicely the scientific returns on two giants, Jupiter after all is still the most important planet in our system in many aspects.

One thing here is also, that if Titan mission would have been given priority, pretty likely there would have been then more of these less capable discovery-class stuff going to Jupiter anyway, so this would have been effectively eliminating other interesting discovery options like Venus balloon/lander. Titan anyway needs to be flagship-way and letting technology mature a bit especially with balloons we improve chances of success there in the future.

What a great time to be anyway. I am just impatiently waiting for first pictures from Ceres, Pluto/Charon, around Mercury and of course the first light of Kepler...

[Paolo]

Selection of the Jupiter mission would mean that the late-10s Jupiter-Saturn slingshot opportunity will probably be lost. The next will be more than one decade later. too bad!

[rlorenz]

Selection of the Jupiter mission would mean that the late-10s Jupiter-Saturn slingshot opportunity will probably be lost. The next will be more than one decade later. too bad!

Jupiter gravity assists fizzled out in 2015, just too early to be considered in the baseline in the 2007
Titan Flagship study (although it was considered as a possible alternate launch for an accelerated program -
see section 6 of the public release report for launch date options)

IIRC these opportunities recur after 15 or 17 years or so, so a late 2020/early 2030s launch may be
favorable for a Titan flagship as the 'second' outer solar system flagship. Won't be during my
professional lifetime, though.

[Guest_Sunspot_*]

2026 arrival?

[ugordan]

2026 arrival?

Better hurry up and wait.

[Greg Hullender]

Ralph, I figure the JS assist opportunities out to recur every 20 years, because 1/(1/12 - 1/29.5) = 20.2. That doesn't say how long the launch window stays open, though, but is it as much as three years?

--Greg

[Mariner9]

That would be the European in situ elements presumably. T

That was my assumption when I read the announcement. The Titan elements would need to be physically integrated with the US orbiter, and there would be relay duties. Neither of those technical requirements exist on the EJSM. The Laplace studies go back several years and the ESA studies of the TSSM started fairly recently. All of that would suggest that the Titan elements are the most immature of all of the components.

[ngunn]

Won't be during my professional lifetime, though.

The NASA timetable could leave the inviting air of Titan balloon-free for about 30 years. That's a big window of opportunity for someone else to pull off the historic feat, even if it carries less scientific clout than a full-blown NASA flagship. I bet they ring you first!

[Juramike]

In my perfect world, the Jupiter flagship is earmarked and slated for launch first, but money and effort is also poured into the technological development of the TSSM mission. Such that the TSSM launches within months after the Jupiter flagship.

'Course in that same perfect world, my investments have gone through the roof and I've already retired and am sitting on a beach with a fuzzy drink...

[volcanopele]

Jim Green posted a message on the OPF website: http://opfm.jpl.nasa.gov/community/decisio...lagshipmission/
I just put up a post on my blog about the next steps for EJSM: http://gishbar.blogspot.com/2009/02/whats-...ter-system.html

[belleraphon1]

I really anticipated that EJSM/JGO would be the choice. Poor GALILEO could only send a dribble of data homeward. It is time to go back to Jupiter system with a mission that can recoup what was not possible with GALILEO due to it's stuck high gain antenna. It is the Europa / Jupiter research communities turn.

Who can guess what new wonders EJSM/JGO will reveal?

Titan's dunes and lakes and strange highlands will get their turn. As will the plumes of Enceladus.

The 2020's is some time ahead.... we can hope that newer technologies will mature enough to fling smaller, more capable tech at the worlds out there so far from the Sun..... (just hope here - since I want the ice giant research community to get it's turn at Uranus/Neptune as well....

So much to discover and these little mayfly lives we lead are so short. But I really cannot complain. We know SO much more than when I was born.... watching the universe unveil continues to be a source of solace in a human world that sometimes seems all too crazy.

Craig

[Stephen]

Am I the only one here who preferred EJSM? TSSM is surely a great mission concept too, it was just my 2nd choice

I preferred EJSM (although I also sort of wished they could have picked both so we didn't have to wait until 2030+--or 2040+ more likely--before NASA returns to Titan :-( ). By 2026 NASA will be way overdue for getting back to Europa.

As Jason Perry's page points out , though, and others here have alluded to, though "JEO is safe", "despite this downselection, the contest isn't over for JGO" back at the ESA. So let's not bring out the champagne and dancing girls just yet. Save those for when JGO gets the final go-ahead.

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Stephen