> The Pluto survey is / was reachable as well. > Funding got cut, and it's not > going to happen. Why? Because not enough people > out of the science > community cared about it, or even knew about it to > care about it.
i'm not sure what "pluto survey" you're referring to, but if it's the "new horizons" mission, i recall reading somewhere that congress added money to nasa's budget this year for the mission - something like $100 million. or was i mistaken? > We're not out to reinvent the wheel. We're out to > build public support. We > can't build it with a spate of emails, or a quiet > little lab project > somewhere. We need a loud, obnoxious experiment, > done by a group of ordinary > people using off the shelf parts. i think it would help me, and maybe others, if you explained exactly what the goals of the project you had in mind are? is it to demonstrate alternative technologies to jpl's cryobot, create a public outreach project to generate interest in a europa mission, or just have fun on a frozen lake in winter with some cool toys? :) all of the above, and more, could be the goals, but i think the purpose of the project needs to be clearly delineated and everybody's gotta be on the same page, or it won't work. > Spread the field out, increase the participation > base, and space exploration > MIGHT happen. Experiments might not be forgotten. > Concepts might not get > shelved... simply because there are too many people > who remember that, way > back in 2002, a group of space enthusiasts got > together on a website, and > came up with an ice submersible, without having to > beg NASA for it, or rely > on someone else's crib notes. the problem here is that space exploration tends to be a bit more expensive than paleontology. :) what happens once you build the little toy that burrows into the ice of a backyard pond? does this magically spark vast public interest in missions to europa, get the president to commit to a europa submersible by 2020, or something else? it's useful to know, before stepping on the first rung of a ladder, exactly where the second rung is. :) - a.j. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/ == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/
