Discovery 2012 |
Discovery 2012 |
Aug 12 2012, 04:56 AM
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#16
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
I love the concept of TiME, but I have to say that I have been wanting to see some heat flow information from Mars for quite some time. The seismic data will be very useful, but again, heat flow data will tell us a lot about the rate at which Mars' core cooled, thus letting us understand better the process of creating global magnetic fields in rocky planets. That's of great interest to me.
-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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Aug 12 2012, 05:11 AM
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#17
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Member Group: Members Posts: 813 Joined: 8-February 04 From: Arabia Terra Member No.: 12 |
I like the concept of Time but I'd really prefer a probe that ends up in the littoral zone rather than in the middle of a near featureless sea. I want to see what an alien shoreline looks like!
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Aug 12 2012, 08:16 PM
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#18
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
Well they don't plan for it to sink, or to drop anchor, so it must eventually drift ashore. We may see that beach.
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Aug 13 2012, 03:47 AM
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#19
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Member Group: Members Posts: 706 Joined: 22-April 05 Member No.: 351 |
Well they don't plan for it to sink, or to drop anchor, so it must eventually drift ashore. We may see that beach. If I'm remembering the right Titan lake, one shore has a gradual slope from the shore line, probably not that picturesque for a probe with a short camera mast. The other shore had hills. Perhaps someone who follows Titan better will remember. All three of the proposals are superstars. I'll be happy with any of them, but while the others could fly at the next Discovery selection, TiME would be a much more expensive or a much shorter mission if the direct to Earth telecommunications geometry is lost. -------------------- |
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Aug 14 2012, 08:46 PM
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#20
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Member Group: Members Posts: 242 Joined: 21-December 04 Member No.: 127 |
Given the budget constraints of the Mars Exploration Program in the next couple of launch opportunities, I wonder if it would make more sense to transfer the existing funds to Discovery and fund InSIGHT and one of the others for Discovery 12. It would be nice to get back to two missions per announcement.
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Aug 14 2012, 09:09 PM
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#21
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14432 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
I heard today that the announcement should be 'a week to 10 days' away.
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Aug 15 2012, 06:18 PM
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#22
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Member Group: Members Posts: 540 Joined: 25-October 05 From: California Member No.: 535 |
Thanks for the heads-up! *Crosses fingers for TIME*
-------------------- 2011 JPL Tweetup photos: http://www.rich-parno.com/aa_jpltweetup.html
http://human-spaceflight.blogspot.com |
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Aug 18 2012, 02:07 AM
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#23
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Member Group: Members Posts: 202 Joined: 9-September 08 Member No.: 4334 |
I'm hoping for TiME too... Cassini has made Titan look like one of the most interesting places in the solar system...
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Aug 18 2012, 03:46 AM
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#24
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Member Group: Members Posts: 706 Joined: 22-April 05 Member No.: 351 |
The journal Nature has a poll on which mission it's readers would like to see selected (see here). The current results:
InSight - 49.7% TiME - 39.3% Chopper - 11.1% I tried to post a poll on my website on future planetary missions, but for some reason the widget won't post. -------------------- |
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Aug 18 2012, 06:01 AM
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#25
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8783 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
That poll was actually in Ralph's post that began this thread; I see it's now closed.
Certainly it's not scientific nor objective by its very nature; there were apparently no restrictions on the number of votes cast by an individual, for instance. Whatever the choice, I hope that the selection based on objective factors and not overwhelmed by risk avoidance; best of luck to all! -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Aug 18 2012, 04:21 PM
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#26
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Member Group: Members Posts: 706 Joined: 22-April 05 Member No.: 351 |
I was very surprised that TiME wasn't the leading choice. Presuming that the poll wasn't skunked somehow (e.g., multiple votes although a lot of sites don't allow more than one vote per url) it shows that different communities have different preferences. The Nature site is a general science site (the front sections of both the journals Nature and Science have some of the best general audience science writing available; their websites post a portion of that content).
We're unlikely to know how much risk avoidance plays into the final selection unless the proposing teams reveal the results of NASA's assessment. We won't know if the two missions not selected had technical issues or would have busted the Discovery program budget. My fingers are crossed hoping that none of the three proposals have disqualifying problems and the decision comes down to the best science. -------------------- |
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Aug 20 2012, 03:22 PM
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#27
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Interplanetary Dumpster Diver Group: Admin Posts: 4404 Joined: 17-February 04 From: Powell, TN Member No.: 33 |
Having watched the poll, and how it would violently swing back and forth between strongly favoring Mars and strongly favoring Titan, I suspect that it was in a sense skunked.
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Aug 20 2012, 06:07 PM
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#28
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1729 Joined: 3-August 06 From: 43° 35' 53" N 1° 26' 35" E Member No.: 1004 |
audioconference in 3 hours
http://www.nasa.gov/news/media/newsaudio/index.html |
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Aug 20 2012, 06:36 PM
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#29
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1729 Joined: 3-August 06 From: 43° 35' 53" N 1° 26' 35" E Member No.: 1004 |
well... the suspense is over
NASA will send robot drill to Mars in 2016 |
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Aug 20 2012, 07:01 PM
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#30
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14432 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
From the Washington Post who, as Emily pointed out on Twitter, posted the Curiosity had landed 2 days before it arrived.
They may well be right, but wait for the conference. |
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