[X] My Assistant

[Roly]

Normally there is something on the Planetary Society blog (and there was a little) but I'm sure everyone is interested to hear about the recent OPAG meeting? Particularly what, precisely, is the new plan regarding Flagship missions... and also the Juno briefing.

If there are any details, I would be most grateful.

Roly

[Mariner9]

After reading through a lot of different presentations at the OPAG meeting, and seeing other comments regaurding raising the budget on the 2008 New Frontiers AO, it seems headquarters is either:

1) Keeping New Fronteirs on track for a 2014 launch, and adding a Flagship mission. The New Frontiers 3 launch still shows up on a planetary events slide at 2014, along with references to Discovery missions launching only a year apart in 2012, 2013. Perhaps the Flagship would be added somehow into this mix?

2) More likely, NASA is considering changing New Frontiers 3 into a super-small Flagship. IIRC, previously Small Flagship missions were defined as between 800 million and 1.5 Billion, then larger Flagships at 1.5 to 3 Billion. The studies being done on Enceladus, Titan, Europa, and Ganymede seem to be asking the question 'what kind of mission can you do for about 1 billion ?"

Still, being a 'have my cake and eat it too' kind of guy, it would be nice to fantasize about option 1.

As for the four moons being studied, looking at all the options studied up to now (most are very preliminary) at this point it looks to me like the most likely winner would be a Titan direct-entry probe/baloon. Biggest bang for your buck.

Plus a major PR winner with the public. A 17 year plume-sampling mission to Enceladus can't compete with a 6 year mission that finishes with a baloon floating across the Titan landscape for a few days (weeks?) and revealing the landscape for hundreds of kilometers.

[vexgizmo]

After reading through a lot of different presentations at the OPAG meeting, and seeing other comments regaurding raising the budget on the 2008 New Frontiers AO, it seems headquarters is either:

1) Keeping New Fronteirs on track for a 2014 launch, and adding a Flagship mission. The New Frontiers 3 launch still shows up on a planetary events slide at 2014, along with references to Discovery missions launching only a year apart in 2012, 2013. Perhaps the Flagship would be added somehow into this mix?

2) More likely, NASA is considering changing New Frontiers 3 into a super-small Flagship. IIRC, previously Small Flagship missions were defined as between 800 million and 1.5 Billion, then larger Flagships at 1.5 to 3 Billion. The studies being done on Enceladus, Titan, Europa, and Ganymede seem to be asking the question 'what kind of mission can you do for about 1 billion ?"

Still, being a 'have my cake and eat it too' kind of guy, it would be nice to fantasize about option 1.

I predict option 1, with a $1B cost cap for New Frontiers, and with a Europa Flagship mission the clear winner a year from now. That would be the right answer, assuming NASA can see through its current Moon-colored glasses.

[volcanopele]

I predict option 1, with a $1B cost cap for New Frontiers, and with a Europa Flagship mission the clear winner a year from now. That would be the right answer, assuming NASA can see through its current Moon-colored glasses.

I'd almost prefer that. A Europa mission would be a great technology test for the main attraction, a New Frontiers class mission to Io.

[ugordan]

a New Frontiers class mission to Io.

That sounds straightforward enough already. All you need to carry along are a few sandbags and/or concrete blocks for radiation shielding.