"Steve Harris " wrote in
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(Remus) wrote in message
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Pluto Flyby

Is the 2006 Pluto mission dead?

Or is a scaled down version still possible for that launch
window?

Does anyone have any good links or references on more
recent developments?

I presume the relevent (easiest) Pluto launch window comes around
every 12 years or so, with Jupiter?

Here's my own related question: why the devil didn't we take advantage
of economies of multiple production, to make more than one
Cassini-style probe when we're doing the first one? We need the same
dang thing for Uranus and Neptune. You know they have to gear up to
make at least 2 (the one to launch, plus a backup for Earth
simulation). So what's the bill to simply make a couple more? I mean,
how much different from each other need these outer gas giant orbiter
thingies be? You could replace the Titan-entry probe with a Gallileo
Jupiter-style entry probe for the primaries. Or even more simply, to
save on mass and flight time (and maybe give place for another power
module), you could leave off the entry probe completely, and still
have an orbiter capable of a lot of good science. And the big
differences in arrival time would let the data teams still do both
planets in sequence, with plenty of time between.

I have the feeling that exploring Uranus and Neptune one at a time is
going to cost 10 times what it would have, had we spent just a few
more bucks up front.


....and one day, one of these one-chance-only going-a-long-way-all-alone 10
year missions is going to fly into a big rock just before it gets there. We
really should never be sending less than two of anything. Preferably built
to identical designs, but by different teams sourcing different components
where possible.

I really don't know how the Cassini team can sleep nights knowing that their
probe is all alone out there...

Just MHO of course

Ian