Posted by
michael
on from the budgetary-concerns dept.
ljhiller writes: "As predicted last month, the planned probe mission to Pluto has officially been
shelved, indefinitely. The mission is to be redesigned to be less expensive, with a target launch date of 2020. The Europa mission has survived the axe."
Re:What about the second rock from the Sun?
by
B.+Samedi
·
· Score: 2
Granted, this idea has little scientific basis, but its theoretically possible.
Well you never know. Remember that we didn't expect life to be around thermal vents in the ocean but it's there. Of course Venus is harsher then a thermal vent but maybe there is some little microbe that likes huge pressure and ungodly heat.
As for axing the probe I'm pretty sorry to see it go. Just about any space travel is good in my book. Even the crashed Mars probes were worth it because it gets people to realize that this kind of thing isn't easy yet it needs to be done and done right. One of the biggest problems is something I call the Star Trek Syndrome. While Star Trek did have some help in getting people into space it has the problem with people seeing things like space travel being done incredibly easy and they think that it should be like that now. We (people in general) need to remember that anything worth doing is worth working for and that not everything is a guarantee. We've forgotten that putting someone on the moon or even putting a satellite in orbit is a technology wonder that required a lot of very hard and very dangerous work. In short we need to learn to dream again and to take risks again, because anything worth doing is worth risking for it.
Too bad about Pluto, but Europa's cool.
by
Tommi+Morre
·
· Score: 2
It's disappointing to lose Pluto, but I'm glad the Europa mission's still on - with that possible subsurface ocean, it's probably the best chance for life in the Solar System aside from Mars (maybe even including Mars). Compared to studying the here-again, gone-again atmosphere of Pluto, I'm a lot more interested in Europa.
Re:pluto, what a waste of a probe
by
MrNixon
·
· Score: 3
Not all solar system science is based human travel and colonization (nor for that matter, is it practical, always).
Why can't we study Pluto and Charon (and the Kuiper belt) for what they are - insights into what the sun's accretion disk was like (bits of the proto-solar system)?
pluto, what a waste of a probe
by
supruzr
·
· Score: 3
Come on now, Pluto isn't really even a 'planet' as far as planets go, it's just an asteroid that has a regular-ish orbit. Its moon, Charon, doesn't even really orbit it; both bodies orbit a point in between them. Sending probes to places like Europa and Titan is a much more promising use for NASA's meager funding. But I agree that Mars should come first. We'll eventually colonize the hell out of it, and we don't need any suprises like giant living dust monsters (Mission to Mars) for the colonists. There may be water on Europa or Titan, but for now, using it isn't practical anyway. Water on Mars IS practical.
Slashdot Mirror
Granted, this idea has little scientific basis, but its theoretically possible.
Well you never know. Remember that we didn't expect life to be around thermal vents in the ocean but it's there. Of course Venus is harsher then a thermal vent but maybe there is some little microbe that likes huge pressure and ungodly heat.
As for axing the probe I'm pretty sorry to see it go. Just about any space travel is good in my book. Even the crashed Mars probes were worth it because it gets people to realize that this kind of thing isn't easy yet it needs to be done and done right. One of the biggest problems is something I call the Star Trek Syndrome. While Star Trek did have some help in getting people into space it has the problem with people seeing things like space travel being done incredibly easy and they think that it should be like that now. We (people in general) need to remember that anything worth doing is worth working for and that not everything is a guarantee. We've forgotten that putting someone on the moon or even putting a satellite in orbit is a technology wonder that required a lot of very hard and very dangerous work. In short we need to learn to dream again and to take risks again, because anything worth doing is worth risking for it.
It's disappointing to lose Pluto, but I'm glad the Europa mission's still on - with that possible subsurface ocean, it's probably the best chance for life in the Solar System aside from Mars (maybe even including Mars). Compared to studying the here-again, gone-again atmosphere of Pluto, I'm a lot more interested in Europa.
Quotes from A Man for All Seasons
Why can't we study Pluto and Charon (and the Kuiper belt) for what they are - insights into what the sun's accretion disk was like (bits of the proto-solar system)?
Come on now, Pluto isn't really even a 'planet' as far as planets go, it's just an asteroid that has a regular-ish orbit. Its moon, Charon, doesn't even really orbit it; both bodies orbit a point in between them. Sending probes to places like Europa and Titan is a much more promising use for NASA's meager funding. But I agree that Mars should come first. We'll eventually colonize the hell out of it, and we don't need any suprises like giant living dust monsters (Mission to Mars) for the colonists. There may be water on Europa or Titan, but for now, using it isn't practical anyway. Water on Mars IS practical.