[X] My Assistant

[djellison]

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/dec/H...MSL_Update.html

From the wording of this announcement, MSL is clearly still on, which is a good thing. We'll have to wait and see.

Doug

[sci44]

It doesnt sound like NASA has funds for the Telecoms orbiter now. On another thread here someone calculated that MRO/MO have plenty of time left (decades), just based on mono-propellant usage - providing the rest of the craft holds out. If they did decide to do something maybe they should speak to the ESA, who will need an orbiter there for ExoMars in 2016 (Send it with Beagle-3 :-) ). MSL will have a direct to earth comms too, although that would be expensive in DSN time, I guess. I was rather looking forward to Oppy still being running for MSL arrival - I wonder what the odds are now? Worst of all would be if some bright spark ressurected the "turn off a rover" idea..
Does anyone know if the launcher-power remains the same for '11?
EDIT: MEX was going to be Beagles phone-home, and ESA did ask NASA for help trying to talk to Beagle with MGS, so I would guess the ESA would gladly reciprocate. There is a Chinese orbiter going with Phobos-Grunt too - now *that* would be tricky politics.. :-)

[mcaplinger]

ESA did ask NASA for help trying to talk to Beagle with MGS, so I would guess the ESA would gladly reciprocate.

There's a big difference between a one-off, short term activity and ongoing operations for years. I'm not sure what kind of capability MEx would even have for that given its elliptical orbit.