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Galileo Amalthea Flyby Threatened

Posted by michael on from the save-a-buck-or-two dept.

vince writes "The Galileo spacecraft will fly by Jupiter's moon Amalthea on November 5th. This is the *only* close flyby of this moon Galileo will make, but (as currently planned) it will not return any images, in order to save a paltry $1m - $1.5m. Looks like a grassroots campaign is going to be necessary to save the flyby."

2 of 33 comments (clear)

  1. Read the article by Mad+Quacker · · Score: 2, Informative

    Last time it tried to take pictures it shut down in failsafe, now there is a high probability it will do so again, in which case 1.5mil would be wasted, which NASA can't really afford.

    --
    "I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots." George HW Bush
  2. Re:Why does it cost this much? by Observer · · Score: 3, Informative
    Read the article:
    That $1 million-plus bill for Amalthea imaging is based on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory maintaining Galileo's 12-member science team and data distribution system for another year (during much of which they would be idle).

    But this, strictly speaking, is not required. ....
    The article goes on to summarise the possibilities for doing a "last fling" flyby that could cover more than just the small moon, for a cost of perhaps a few hundred thousand dollars. It would be a gamble on avoiding another radiation-triggered shutdown, but if the article is accurate, that's a possibility for the planned data collection anyway on this orbit.

    Seems a pity not to rereview squeezing as much as possible out of what may well be this impressive craft's last pass through the inner reaches of the Jovian system. On the other hand, just a rereview would probably eat up another $1M :(