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#3151 Re: Unmanned probes » JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter » 2006-03-17 01:31:19
Prometheus has been cut by $430 million in 2005 to only $100 million in 2006, it seems to have got zero funding in 2007
no funding for a JIMO.
NASA is instead considering a demonstration mission to a target closer to Earth to test out the reactor and heat rejection systems.
JIMO died last year, cancelled when the estimated cost went over $11 billion. It was a massive pork project to justify O'Keefe's Prometheus nuclear power project setup by his old buddies from the Navy.
#3152 Re: Unmanned probes » ExoMars to be "Upgraded" » 2006-03-17 01:26:54
The ExoMars mission to Mars by Europes ESA is considering an upgrade.
The current plan was to send a rover with a carrier shell discarded when it enters orbit of Mars. The Upgrade is to change this carrier into an orbiter
The Beeb are not the best source of news about science; they fail to mention that the original ExoMars project includued an orbiter. In fact ESA are still showing the orbiter on their web site.
#3153 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Space Microwave - Cosmic microwave, Planck & NASA's COBE » 2006-03-16 18:23:59
#3154 Re: Human missions » The first Mars crew » 2006-03-16 10:44:16
I like the idea of sending George Bush and his entire administration to Mars. The best part of Mars being out there, is the fact that it out there and get those Neo-Cons out from down here. But, then George Bush might declare war on those Martians and start an interstellar war teach them bad English. So maybe that not a good idea.
Larry,
Sigh, I was hoping this would be a space relevant thread, not somewhere for naive juvenile comments. Hopefully the moderator will move the above and this reply to another area of the board.
#3155 Re: Human missions » Selling out Mars and Science? » 2006-03-16 10:23:19
The CEV and Shuttle look like they are going ahead, they got their money.
Yes of course CEV is going ahead, it's the future of US human spaceflight, and no, STS is not going ahead. The STS budget has been truely cut (unlike the reduction in science budget growth) from about $5 billion a year to zero in 4 years. If you want to play the whinging scientist's numbers game, that's not only a cut of approximately $12 billion it's a terminaton of the entire program. A lot of people will lose a lot of real jobs. If you want to feel sorry for someone, feel sorry for all those people not the few scientists who have many other job opportunities available.
#3156 Re: Human missions » China's Space Olympics : Shenzhou-7 » 2006-03-16 05:44:22
After a flurry of media statements, the latest wave of official Shenzhou publicity seems to be drawing to a close. China has now mapped out plans for its next four launches in the Shenzhou program, and has clarified details on the next flight.
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/The_S … mpics.html
But one plausible conclusion seems to have escaped most reports in the aerospace media. The flight of Shenzhou 7 could be timed to coincide with the Beijing Olympics.
Not a conclusion, just a speculation. Given the typical delays that happen during launches, especially with crews, it would seem unlikely that China would take the risk of announcing a mission to coincide with the Olympics and then not be able to deliver ... loss of face etc etc. However, maximising China's world media impact during that time may well be part of the plan, so having a space mission as close as possible makes sense.
#3157 Re: Human missions » Selling out Mars and Science? » 2006-03-16 04:42:54
The CEV and Shuttle look like they are going ahead, they got their money.
Yes of course CEV is going ahead, it's the future of US human spaceflight, and no STS is not going ahead. The STS budget has been truely been cut (unlike the reduction in science budget growth) from about $5 billion a year to zero in 4 years ... now if you want to play the whinging scientist's game, that's a cut of approximately $12 billion in the programme. A lot of people will loose a lot of real jobs, if you want to feel sorry for someone, feel sorry for them, not a few scientists who have many job opportunities available.
#3158 Re: Interplanetary transportation » 30 days to Mars = Earth Geo to Phobos » 2006-03-14 07:31:47
10 Gigawatts, with a 20% penalty for transmission and atmospheric losses, amounts to a dozen full size nuclear power plants!
Or only 5,000 2MW wind turbines; make sure you check the weather forecast before launch :>
#3159 Re: Martian Chronicles » I'm Wanting To Write A Book About Manned Mission To Jupiter » 2006-03-14 07:16:46
My book about a mission to Jupiter envisions a mission launched around 2033. Not too many years after the first manned Mars missions.
Okay let's start here. We all hope that the first Mars mission will be a lot sooner than 2030, but if it's really that late I would expect missions to the asteroid belt (as well as NEOs) before one to Jupiter was attempted. If you want a more realistic scenario, put the Jupiter mission at least 10 years after Mars, notwithstanding the discovery of a black obelisk 
ps one big problem with human missions to Jupiter is radiation.
#3160 Re: Human missions » NASA 2007 Budget » 2006-03-12 14:53:38
And another excellent little speech (PDF 34KB) from Mike Griffin to Space Shuttle Suppliers, March 7 - who writes these gems?
Now let me be realistic with you. We cannot require the same industrial base for the new Exploration systems as we need today to operate the Space Shuttle. The simplicity of the design for the CEV and its launch systems does not, should not, must not require the industrial footprint of the shuttle. If we are to carry out missions to the Moon, Mars, and the near-Earth asteroids, our resources – your time and effort – must be directed to re-tooling our industrial capabilities for the CEV, the CLV, the heavy-lift launch vehicle, and human landers.
#3161 Re: Human missions » NASA 2007 Budget » 2006-03-11 07:24:34
What is amazing is not that there are problems developing extreme technology for the first time, or that it is late and over budget .... what is amazing is that any of it works at all! If you've ever tried to do even a simple project at home where you have full control, just see how many unexpected problems occur, how easy it is to under estimate the time it takes.
It's soooo easy to find fault and pick holes in anything, the more complex the project the more problems you can find. Projects like STS and ISS involve the management of tens of thousands of people all over the world, they are incredible engineering accomplishments!
Be critical sure, but be positive. If you know how to do it better then say. Stop all this bloody whining and complaining, it's boring and wastes time.
#3162 Re: Unmanned probes » New Horizons - mission to Pluto and the Kupier belt » 2006-03-10 01:06:45
Update from New Horizons website 9 March 2006
With a 76-second burst from its thrusters today, New Horizons cleaned up the last of the small trajectory "dispersions" from launch and set its course toward next February's gravity-assist flyby of Jupiter."
"Course laid in Cap'n"
"Steady as she goes Helm"
#3163 Re: Water on Mars » Liquid water discovered ... » 2006-03-09 12:07:12
... not on Mars but perhaps on Saturn's moon Enceladus!
read all about it as soon as NASA makes a press release
#3164 Re: Unmanned probes » Europa Exploration » 2006-03-08 16:30:50
#3165 Re: Unmanned probes » Dawn - Vesta & Ceres orbiter » 2006-03-07 06:01:02
Under the current climate with rising debts from Iraq, the Katrina fiasco and large deficts people could ask what mission really is safe ?
Yes it is all hopeless. China has postponed Shenzhou-7 because it is unsafe, Klipper may be cancelled, ExoMars is late, Beagle crashed ... did you know that Apollo was cancelled too? And don't forget the bird flu is spreading, and global warming is getting worse and the greenland ice sheet is melting, and wars are everywhere. And now a new solar cycle is starting that is worse than the last one. And it's all the fault of the NASA and Bush. Space exploration is just too hard and dangerous. Let's give it all up.
#3166 Re: Unmanned probes » Dawn - Vesta & Ceres orbiter » 2006-03-05 15:44:28
Letter from PSI Director Sykes ...
<snip>
Considering the concern raised at the hearing yesterday about the poor reputation of NASA as an international partner, which reflects poorly on the US, cancelling Dawn is a surprise at that level as well.
Clearly Sykes doesn't read this forum or he wouldn't be surprised - this mission has been in trouble for over three months.
ps. I'll resist making a joke about Dawn breaking.
#3167 Re: Unmanned probes » New unmanned probes to Uranus & Neptune? » 2006-03-05 15:34:04
I read somewhere that a lightweight "New Horizons" type mission has been proposed for Uranus.
And that a larger, far more elaborate nuclear powered orbiter mission to Neptune similar to the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter was in the planning stages.
Any substance to these?
Alan Stern was pushing hard last year for a New Horizons II mission for launch in 2008/9. It would be a clone of the Pluto probe and would flyby Uranus enroute to the Kupier belt. It seems unlikely to happen given the current funding environment.
#3168 Re: Human missions » The first Mars crew » 2006-03-05 15:24:23
How about Hillary Clinton? Asumming it's a one way trip with insufficent life support and a nuclear thermal upper stage which is actually a mislabled thermonuclear device. (in the 20mt range)
There is a strong case for sending an all woman crew: less weight and smaller body size; less food, air and water needed. Sending a politician might be the answer to getting funding, it worked with John Glenn.
#3169 Re: Unmanned probes » Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) » 2006-03-03 03:30:24
And the article reminds us that only 65% of missions have achieved successful orbit.
Of *all* missions perhaps, of US missions 71% made orbit
successful:
1971 Mariner 9
1975 Viking 1
1975 Viking 2
1996 Mars Global Surveyor
2001 Mars Odyssey
failed:
1992 Mars Observer
1998 Mars Climate Observer
#3170 Re: Human missions » sounds to me that humanity has reached a critical point » 2006-03-03 01:30:51
Despite politicians saying this isn't a space race, the evidence suggests otherwise. The worlds space countries are all reducing time scales, and increasing science money everytime somebody else does, whether for competition reasons or they are freaking out on global warming or some other earthly danger.
So long as a nuke world war three doesn't happen, I think humanity is finally on the fast track towards space expansion and colonization.
Sure there is evidence that more countries are spending more money on space than ever before, but there is no "space race" between them. Competition does exist between groups of scientists building better instruments (Herschel v Sophia) and in exploration (MSL v ExoMars). Many reasons are given to get funding including science (JWST), exploration (CEV), politics (ISS), technology (SMART-1) and prestige (Shenzhou). The track has more runners with better equipment but there is a long long way to go before colonization will begin.
#3171 Re: Human missions » Lunar sooner » 2006-02-27 14:17:55
Lunar sooner appears to be the accelerated lunar mission architecture as defined in the updated ESAS ... Spaceref has the full details here
extract:
# New accelerated approach:
* CLV: 5 segment RSRM / 1 J-2X upperstage.
* CaLV: 5 segment RSRM / 5 SSME core stage / 1 J-2X EDS stage.
* Requires development of a single upperstage engine, a single low cost SSME derivative for the CaLV core stage and a single solid rocket booster stage.
* As documented in ESAS, this concept achieves similar loss of mission / loss of crew estimates to that of the 4 segment /1 SSME concept.
The reevaluated cost and schedule to implement these changes will result in lower overall risk to the lunar mission, enabling the lunar missions sooner due to earlier development of the required hardware (fewer development steps/changes)
#3173 Re: Unmanned probes » New Horizons - mission to Pluto and the Kupier belt » 2006-02-26 12:47:05
Now how's this for speed, already halfway to the orbit of Mars ...
And what about New Horizons? Well, it’s halfway to the orbit of Mars now, and the flight mission is continuing smoothly. Last week, we conducted the “Launch Plus 35 Day” review of the engineering and operational aspects of the mission. In this formal, day long review, the engineering leads and the ops team presented the status and lessons learned from the first five weeks of flight to a review team consisting of experienced spacecraft engineers and project managers.
Also last week, we conducted the first testing of instruments in our scientific payload. In total, three instruments were tested last week: ALICE, PEPSSI, and LORRI. (And there is no truth, dear reader, to the rumor that we chose these three to begin with because they spell, A-P-L.)
Although “first light” for each of these three instruments is still in the future the early tests we preformed last week proved that all three instruments survived launch and have good power and command interfaces to the spacecraft. Additionally, each instrument put their microprocessors through various paces, and ALICE unlatched and successfully tested her front door by opening it to space. All of this testing went well and we’re very happy with the engineering data returned to Earth by all three of these instruments.
This week, SWAP and SDC will get turned on and tested similarly to the work done last week with ALICE, PEPSSI, and LORRI. In fact, SDC will even begin collecting data. And so will PEPSSI. Starting in March, we plan to use SDC, PEPSSI, and SWAP a great deal during the flight to Pluto in order to trace out conditions in the interplanetary environment across the space of 5 billion plus kilometers from here to the Kuiper Belt.
#3174 Re: Unmanned probes » Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) » 2006-02-23 14:25:47
Aldo made a *very nice* summary of the comments/theories re: Homeplate, as discussed on unmannedspaceflight.com: http://www.marsgeo.com/Spirit/HomePlate.htm
Thanks for the link, yes it's very readable. Mars will keep us busy for a long long time and we're not even there yet.
#3175 Re: Unmanned probes » MESSENGER - Mercury Orbiter » 2006-02-23 13:42:30
Yep it's time for an update:
MESSENGER status report 22 Feb 2006[/url]"]
MESSENGER trajectory correction maneuver 10 (TCM 10) lasted just over two minutes and adjusted its velocity by about 1.4 meters per second (4.6 feet per second). The short-duration maneuver placed the spacecraft on track for its next major mission event: the first Venus flyby on October 24, 2006.