----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2002 3:21 PM Subject: Re: Bruce Moomaw, wet blanket
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? You might be on point here. I'd like to hear more about this. Approximately one year ago, to my recollection, there was a big stir on the website when the Pluto mission was cut for budgetary reasons. The trouble is, Pluto is on an elliptical orbit, and at its closest approach to Earth right now. Another 20 years, and the window of opportunity passes, as Pluto again flies high into its orbit and completely freezes over for another 200 years. ____________________ You guys have not been following my Illustrious Career. In my secret identity as a writer for "SpaceDaily" ( www.spacedaily.com ), I've been (to my own astonishment) a central figure in getting the Pluto mission uncancelled after NASA cancelled it. One inside source at the Applied Physics Lab, which is in charge of New Horizons, says my August 2000 article was what first gave them the idea of reworking the CONTOUR comet probe design for Pluto (which still looks like a good idea despite the failure of the original CONTOUR, which was probably due to a freak flaw in its separate solid-motor kickstage). Regardless of whether that's true, my article definitely did focus widespread attention on the possibility of reworking an existing spacecraft design to fly the mission relatively cheaply. NASA, although I didn't know it at the time, was actually threatening any scientist or engineer who proposed that overall idea with cutting off all their research grants, because His Majesty Dan Goldin was furiously opposed to any Pluto mission -- but after Simon Mansfield and I unintentionally belled the cat with that public article, NASA was forced to put out the proposal for competitive bidding. And after that competition produced a design that NASA admitted was acceptable -- and the planetary science community made it clear this summer in its "Decadal Survey" report on future Solar System exploration that it very much wanted a Pluto mission as soon as possible -- both houses of Congress did indeed override the publically declared wishes of both NASA Headquarters and the White House, and provide $105 million this year to start the New Horizons project for launch to Pluto in January 2006 (arrival in 2015-16, probably before the Big Freezeout, followed by flybys of several smaller Kuiper Belt objects). It seems very likely that this money will indeed be included in the final FY 2003 NASA budget after the House-Senate budget negotiations, and it also seems unlikely now that the White House will veto it -- NASA is already starting to make conciliatory noises about New Horizons, despite having previously fought it tooth and nail. The one thing that could zap it at this point is the imminent report on the possible causes of CONTOUR's failure -- if it turns out that the Applied Physics Lab was seriously negligent in designing or testing CONTOUR, it could reflect badly on its ability to manage New Horizons. But that too seems unlikely at this point. So, if this mission flies, it will be to a large extent the personal doing of Little Old Me. And NASA's new declared intention to put out its other expensive "New Frontiers" Solar System missions for competitive bidding was, in turn, largely inspired by the Pluto probe competition. So be nice to me, or I'll strike you all with lightning. I tend to brag about this whole extraordinary chain of events because (A) it's probably my one and only 15 Minutes of Fame, and (B) I still can't believe it actually happened, starting only a year after I started writing for SpaceDaily. By the way, the most recent of my articles on the Pluto probe also mentions the current status of Europa Orbiter, as follows: NASA and the White House also cancelled it this year, but the House (though not, as yet, the Senate) reinserted $40 million to continue JPL's technical studies of the mission, to maintain the possibility of launching it some time around 2010. Europa Orbiter presents serious problems because it has indeed turned out to be a technologically complex mission and its cost has now ballooned to an estimated $1 billion -- way above the current $650 million cost cap for New Frontiers missions. But the House also agrees with NASA's planetary scientists that that cost cap should be made more elastic to allow the occasional flight of more expensive planetary missions -- and the Decadal Survey strongly urged that it should fly before 2013 despite its high cost. (The House does think that JPL has done enough technical work already on this mission that it should be left in JPL's hands, rather than being put out for competitive bidding like the other New Frontiers missions.) It will be interesting to see if Congress ends up ordering next year that Europa Orbiter, despite its high cost, should become the second of the New Frontiers missions, in which case it could indeed fly in 2010-11. (Also, the Decadal Survey recommends that instruments should be added to it to analyze and map the non-ice chemicals in Europa's surface, which has been another of my long-time pet causes, although I didn't have anything to do with this change.) So here are the relevant URLs (although I've done a whole series of about 7 or 8 articles on the strange Perils of Pauline saga of the Pluto probe): My August 2000 article that started the ball rolling (though I didn't know it at the time): http://www.spacedaily.com/news/pluto-00c1.html My two most recent articles on Pluto (and on Congress' other changes in the NASA budget): http://www.spacedaily.com/news/outerplanets-02m.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nasa-02f1.html The Decadal Survey Report on the best form for NASA's Solar System exploration program through 2013: http://www.nationalacademies.org/ssb/newfrontiersfront.html (This report is crucial reading for anyone interested in space exploration. Be warned, though, that it runs about 450 pages.) == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/
