JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

Palomar · 2004-12-10 20:29:18

*Decisions, decisions. Didn't know if I should put the article in this thread (even if I did create the thread), or start a new one in the Science & Technology folder.

But for the sake of continuity (relatively speaking), http://www.space.com/businesstechnology … .html]here goes: Prometheus Pre-Empted? JIMO, New Nuclear Fission Missions Evaluated, etc.

NASA is reviewing a list of fission-powered missions that could pre-empt the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) effort now being eyed for space travel no sooner than 2015.
A special study team has identified six potential candidate missions that could be done sooner, have shorter mission durations, and would be far less difficult to implement.

Lists the candidate missions. Comments?

--Cindy

P.S.: If they're gonna swerve off course from JIMO (which I hope they don't), my choice would be Venus Orbiter. But want that Europa Orbiter before Venus!

John Creighton · 2004-12-11 11:15:00

· Near Earth Object (NEO) Asteroid Mission that would involve stopovers at multiple objects, perhaps landing hardware on a NEO to assess the ability to modify the trajectory of a celestial body.

I'd prefer JIMO but this would be my next favorite.

Stephen · 2004-12-12 18:51:55

Those who fear they might be in their dotage before anybody actually got back to Europa, might want to check out

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology … .html]this news item at Space.com.

NASA is reviewing a list of fission-powered missions that could pre-empt the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) effort now being eyed for space travel no sooner than 2015.
A special study team has identified six potential candidate missions that could be done sooner, have shorter mission durations, and would be far less difficult to implement.

In addition to those six, they are also looking at "a Europa Orbiter mission for a 2012 launch, using chemical propulsion, would have the spacecraft energized by radioisotope power system (RPS) technology".

SpaceNut · 2004-12-13 06:24:30

Another draw back to this years budget is in how future years scheduel projects for research questions to be answered but also to where we will send the probes that are needed to answer those very questions.

DISTANT DESTINATIONS: Outer Solar System Beckons, but Moon/Mars Focus Could Slow Exploration There

An upcoming NASA selection between very different robotic spacecraft for a $700-million mission scheduled to fly by 2010 is emblematic of the strains that are likely to beset the U.S. agency--and its international partners--for years to come as they struggle to map the new pay-as-you-go U.S. exploration program.
In choosing between a vehicle to return lunar samples from the Aitkin Basin at the Moon's south pole, and an orbiter that would circle Jupiter from pole to pole to see if the gas giant has a solid core, NASA managers must strike a balance between human space spectaculars close to home and the equally spectacular science possible deeper in space.

Palomar · 2005-02-02 05:40:49

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=1001]JIMO Delayed

*Additional information to be announced Monday, February 7.

This news was mentioned by someone else in a new thread; however, I'm interested in the science of the project and of course it belongs here too.

::sigh::

--Cindy

Stephen · 2005-02-02 09:10:03

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=1001]JIMO Delayed

Oh dear! And to think NASA once had visions of launching a Europan orbiter in 2006.

SpaceNut · 2005-03-09 08:20:05

Under the 2006 budget the project Prometheus was not funded and now I find an article where Prometheus looks to nuke future.

The US space agency (Nasa) is progressing with ambitious plans to explore the Solar System using nuclear power.

???

John Creighton · 2005-03-14 13:50:20

From the article you linked to spacenut

The RTGs on Cassini would not produce enough to run a hair dryer (three units produce about 700 watts).
Scientists would love more electrical power for their instruments - but there is another use for which nuclear electric power could make all the difference: the ion engine.

Project Prometheus proposes using a nuclear reactor not much bigger than a dustbin, linked to a turbine or other generator to provide perhaps 250 kW of power.
Mention that to space scientists and their eyes glaze over with dreams of the instruments they could run and the multiple destinations they could visit.
An ion drive might be slow - it produces a thrust little more than a human breath - but it can keep it up for years on end and have enough puff left over to flit between multiple destinations.
Spare power, for example, could run radar to look for oceans beneath the ice of Jupiter's moon Europa. It could also power a communications system that would replace a trickle of data with a broadband flood of pictures.

I myself think JIMO is truly a beautiful concept and while we currently aren’t ready to take full advantage of this technology Prometheus time will come. Sure there are issues today like finding a vehicle big enough to lift it, not being able to do a polar orbit of the moons and the claim by GCN that two smaller probes will do a much better job. I am confident that these problems will be worked out and that future space probes will benefit greatly from this technology.

SpaceNut · 2005-03-24 11:03:45

Report lauds putting project on back burner: Jupiter nuclear mission called too ambitious

The General Accountability Office (GAO) report for the 2006 budget has deferred the Jupiter mission because of concerns over costs and technical complexity.

GAO Report: NASA'S SPACE VISION: Business Case for Prometheus 1 Needed to Ensure Requirements Match Available Resources

Why GAO Did This Study
In 2003, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) initiated the Prometheus 1 project to explore the outer reaches of the Solar System. The Prometheus 1 spacecraft is being designed to harness nuclear energy that will increase available electrical power from about 1,000 watts to over 100,000 watts and enable the use of electric propulsion thrusters.

SpaceNut · 2005-05-13 12:26:04

More budget maniplulation to fund shuttle and possible Hubble repairs.

Prometheus, ISS Research Cuts Help Pay for Shuttle and Hubble Repair Bills

NASA sent Congress a revised spending plan for 2005 that would significantly cut the Project Prometheus nuclear power and propulsion program, cancel a host of international space station-based biological and physical research activities, and postpone some space science missions, including two advanced space telescopes and a Mars science lander slated to launch in 2009.
The cuts were necessary, according to NASA, to pay the remaining $287 million tab for preparing the space shuttle for its return to flight, to make a substantial down payment on a potential Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, to accommodate $400 million worth of special projects that lawmakers added to NASA’s budget last year, and to cover larger than predicted bills for a variety satellite projects being prepared for launch.

EuroLauncher · 2006-01-10 02:48:27

JIMO got cut-down

but they say the next big cooperative European-US space mission will be to Europa
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/science/nature/4347571.stm

ESA selected flexible missions which work with NASA like Solar Orbiter and the Next Generation Space Telescope ( JWST ) the planned successor to the Hubble Space Telescope
http://www.physicstoday.org/pt/vol-54/iss-2/p27.html

nature.com/nature/journal/v434/n7033/full/434551a.html
agencies mull over mutual mission to Europa : Nature

EuroLauncher · 2006-03-13 02:52:42

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.

cIclops · 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.

Dayton Kitchens · 2006-08-27 19:41:16

I wonder if some kind of downsized and cheaper version of JIMO might be possible?

Perhaps with chemical propulsion, aerobraking at Jupiter, and using large RTGs to run a smaller suite of instruments.

SpaceNut · 2020-07-07 20:19:22

Bump to group up similar topics

Plus it needs fixing

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#26 2004-12-10 20:29:18

Re: JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

#27 2004-12-11 11:15:00

Re: JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

#28 2004-12-12 18:51:55

Re: JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

#29 2004-12-13 06:24:30

Re: JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

#30 2005-02-02 05:40:49

Re: JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

#31 2005-02-02 09:10:03

Re: JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

#32 2005-03-09 08:20:05

Re: JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

#33 2005-03-14 13:50:20

Re: JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

#34 2005-03-24 11:03:45

Re: JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

#35 2005-05-13 12:26:04

Re: JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

#36 2006-01-10 02:48:27

Re: JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

#37 2006-03-13 02:52:42

Re: JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

#38 2006-03-17 01:31:19

Re: JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

#39 2006-08-27 19:41:16

Re: JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

#40 2020-07-07 20:19:22

Re: JIMO - Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

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