Europa Clipper clippings

Eric Berger, writing at Teslarati, is rather down on NASA's EC
managment, and the handcuffs provided by Capitol Hill:

quote
[...] that means that if Falcon Heavy was ready to launch Europa
Clipper when the spacecraft is expected to be ready in 2024, it would
actually arrive at the same time (or close) if it launched on SLS –
once a minimum two-year launch vehicle delay is accounted for. A Falcon
Heavy would also save NASA at least $1-2 billion, while it would
directly save the Europa Clipper program the ~$250 million it would
otherwise need to spend to store the spacecraft while waiting years for
an SLS rocket. That $250 million alone – an inevitable add-on cost if
SLS is chosen – could easily double the budget of every single Europa
Clipper science instrument, adding plenty of breathing room,
reinstating ICEMAG, and likely improving the science they output –
data-gathering quite literally being the whole purpose of the mission.
/quote

He says the only sign of hope is that Congress might open a small
opportunity to switch launchers, based on one of the rewrites of a
draft bill.

URL:https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-nasa-europa-clipper-cost-savings-dilemma/

/dps

--
"Inviting people to laugh with you while you are laughing at yourself
is a good thing to do, You may be a fool but you're the fool in
charge." -- Carl Reiner

On 2020-07-13 9:12 PM, Snidely wrote:
Eric Berger, writing at Teslarati, is rather down on NASA's EC
managment, and the handcuffs provided by Capitol Hill:

It's not about the science.
It's not about the schedule.
It's not about capabilities.
It's not about cost.
It's not about the opportunities.


We all know what it's about.

Dave

On Jul/14/2020 at 09:36, David Spain wrote :
On 2020-07-13 9:12 PM, Snidely wrote:
Eric Berger, writing at Teslarati, is rather down on NASA's EC
managment, and the handcuffs provided by Capitol Hill:

It's not about the science.
It's not about the schedule.
It's not about capabilities.
It's not about cost.
It's not about the opportunities.


We all know what it's about.

Dave you usually make good comments, but this time you have it all wrong.

It's about pork. If they can bring back hogs from Europa:
It would be great science.
It would be worth the schedule slip.
It would show great capabilities.
It would be a great opportunity.
As for cost, well the pork comes with the cost.

;-)


Alain Fournier

Alain Fournier speculated:
On Jul/14/2020 at 09:36, David Spain wrote :
On 2020-07-13 9:12 PM, Snidely wrote:
Eric Berger, writing at Teslarati, is rather down on NASA's EC managment,
and the handcuffs provided by Capitol Hill:

It's not about the science.
It's not about the schedule.
It's not about capabilities.
It's not about cost.
It's not about the opportunities.


We all know what it's about.

Dave you usually make good comments, but this time you have it all wrong.

It's about pork. If they can bring back hogs from Europa:
It would be great science.
It would be worth the schedule slip.
It would show great capabilities.
It would be a great opportunity.
As for cost, well the pork comes with the cost.

;-)

The great science is being challenged by to cost cutting on the
satellite. The savings from cancelling yet another instrument are less
than the 2 year (or even 1 yr, IIRC after 24 hours) storage costs.

/dps

--
Yes, I have had a cucumber soda. Why do you ask?

On 2020-07-14 12:27 PM, Alain Fournier wrote:
On Jul/14/2020 at 09:36, David Spain wrote :
We all know what it's about.

Dave you usually make good comments, but this time you have it all wrong.


Concerning questions pork:

When SLS flies we'll finally have the answer to one pressing question:
"When pigs can fly"

Dave

On 2020-07-14 2:35 PM, Snidely wrote:

The great science is being challenged by to cost cutting on the
satellite.* The savings from cancelling yet another instrument are less
than the 2 year (or even 1 yr, IIRC after 24 hours) storage costs.

/dps


So how many years of storage do we gain by cancelling all instruments?
How much do we save if we remove the hi gain antenna or all antennas?
If we remove all antennas then do we get to prolong SLS by requiring a
2nd mission to retrieve the data from the first? Sounds like the way to
go...

Dave