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: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.
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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.