On Jun 26, 11:27*am, BradGuth wrote:
On Jun 26, 10:57*am, BradGuth wrote:



Perhaps all we need in addition to the spendy and performance limited
CoRoT is TRACEe3 (1000 fold better resolution) at less than a third
the cost, or perhaps three TRACEe3 observatories for roughly the same
cost as one CoRoT.

The original TRACE of only 250 kg (still functioning) was a fast-track
developed satellite as a seriously dirt cheap solar observatory,
deployed by the little and costly Pegasus XL, so thereby the R&D for
accomplishing a thousand fold optical/imaging improvement by the same
team should be as equally quick and dirt cheap, although too large for
another spendy launch via Pegasus XL.

TRACEe3 at perhaps a mass of as little as 500 kg1000 kg should have
no problems whatsoever looking directly at the Sirius star/solar
system. *With its mirror optics, greatly extended focal length and
newer CCD imager could extend its observing spectrum well into far/
extreme UVc, although the telephoto optics already utilized by the
existing TRACE along with those narrow bandpass filters would still be
more than sufficient for UVa through IR imaging.

Ultra flat black interior coatings via nano carbon tubes should also
improve the imaging results of TRACEe3 and most any other optics, and
we do need a replacement for the existing TRACE anyway because its
maneuvering fuel is running low, as well as any one of its essential
gyros could fail at most any time. *A decade worth of CCD improvements
and better optics as well as faster rad-hard processors that are more
energy efficient is only going to make this upgrade easier.
*http://trace.lmsal.com/
*http://directory.eoportal.org/presen...129/10301.html

Possibly an upgraded Shtil Launch Vehicle (in surplus inventory along
with a pair of small surplus SRBs) could deploy a TRACEe3 payload for
as little as $1000/kg.
*http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/...ssia/shtil.htm

How much is the all-inclusive (meaning birth to grave) CoRoT actually
costing us? *Can it even look at Sirius without over-saturating its
observing instrument?
*http://www.corot.de/Download/Corot_s...it_English.pdf

Cost per kg from Earth to Low earth orbit (unmanned)
*http://www.marspedia.org/index.php?t...ort_estimation

It must have been terribly spendy (including its launch via the Soyuz
launch vehicle), because nowhere has any accounting of the satellite
observatory R&D plus its mission cost *been mentioned. *If it can’t
even look at the stellar vibrance and seismic activity of Sirius, then
what good is it?

I found one old blog suggesting the 640 kg CoRoT investment was up to
170 million euros ($225M). *That doesn’t seem all that cheap for just
another orbiting telescope, and probably that amount didn’t even
include its honest share of the spendy four stage launch or the annual/
decade budget for gathering and publishing its data. *A TRACEe3 could
be accomplished for as little as one cent per human population, as
well as deployed and operated for a decade on less than another one
cent per human population. *TRACEe3 for two cents seems like a pretty
damn good deal, especially when we could see the extremely vibrant
photosphere of Sirius A and possibly even a few pixels worth of Sirius
B.

*~ Brad Guth Brad_Guth Brad.Guth BradGuth BG / “Guth Usenet”

Speaking of cheap, quick and downright nifty missions that could have
been and should have been. *It seems we already own the shuttle bay
SAR imaging equipment, that with minor upgrades and getting that
already spendy sucker deployed around Venus could yield 0.75 meter
resolution (100 fold better than the original Magellan mission, plus
two fold improved dynamic range), or perhaps as good as 0.15 meter if
doing our moon from 50 km.

Lord forbid we should merely scrap everything that’s bought and paid
for with our hard earned loot, instead of reutilizing, because we sure
as hell wouldn’t want the general public that’s paying for everything
and in debt to the tune of trillions, to ever get their hard earned
moneys worth.

*~ BG

Come on folks, I'm selling these two really dirt-cheap science/
astronomy missions for less than ten cents on the dollar. I'll even
toss in a free toaster and a few frequent flier miles on those spiffy
composite 787s that'll be getting bailed out along with dozens of
other privately screwed up fiascoes.

~ BG