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I'm astonished at just how long it takes NASA to launch probes. Forget that it still takes us half a decade just to get out of the inner solar system, the ground time and preparation seem highly disorganized.
Can someone shed light on some of the main reasons for long development times?
Take JIMO. I'm hearing a launch date at the end of the next decade. The Europa orbiter was origionally scheduled for a 2004 launch if I'm not mistaken. Exactly how much more development is needed for go from Europa orbiter to JIMO? Surely not 10-15 years. That's crazy. Do they only have 1-2 scientists working on the thing?
I think NASA should pay private companies to do their robotic exploration for them. That might speed things up a little.
Danny------> MontrealRacing.com
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Take JIMO. I'm hearing a launch date at the end of the next decade. The Europa orbiter was origionally scheduled for a 2004 launch if I'm not mistaken. Exactly how much more development is needed for go from Europa orbiter to JIMO?
Quite a lot, actually. For JIMO they need to develop the world's first ever space rated nuclear reactor.
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*Consider that there are missions recently "retired" (with data still requiring analysis); current missions which have required additional funding because they are operating so spectacularly and their missions have been extended; and what missions are on the "drawing board."
http://spacescience.nasa.gov/missions/index.htm]Space Science Missions <--- list of all probes and etc.: Recent (retired/over), current, pending.
JIMO is slated for launch in 2015. It doesn't thrill me either that I'll be 50 years old when it finally does launch...but I'd like to know they're taking adequate time to make sure everything will be okay prior to launch and performance will be optimal once "out there."
As the probes (and rovers, etc.) go, NASA seems to be doing a rather well job overall IMO (although yeah, I have my own gripes about NASA in other respects), considering there are obstacles with funding, staffing, etc.
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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As noted about the technology for probes, in many cases the items are just not ready for use in designs and need time to mature to become robust enough for use. Also there is hardware creep meaning that as a concept is put forth the ideas of what is and what is want keeps changing. Then you have the cash flow problem that contractors do not work on a project unless cash is in hand, budget cuts that put projects on hold and so on.
Even the russians take 18 months to complete a build of a soyuz and that is with a known design.
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Well not many will probably heard of netlander but it was started back in 1998 and was cancelled in 2003.
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