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Europe Goes To Venus; Mars Comes to Us

Posted by michael on from the frequent-flyer-miles dept.

JamesO writes "The BBC says that the ESA is going to Venus, reusing the Mars Express design. Also here. Launch seems to be expected in 2005." And knownsense writes "Space.com is reporting that Mars is coming to closer to Earth. It will be closer by around 191 million miles and will end up 85 times brighter about August next year. This apparently is the first time it's been this close since the Neanderthals."

4 of 172 comments (clear)

  1. how will this affect me? by zelphi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But will any geek actually get off his/her ass and look outside?

    Also, now that Life may exist on venus, will this lead to more interest in the oft' forgotten planet?

  2. Re:Very Welcome News... by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well, Mars isn't necessarily more interesting, it's just more accessible.

    We can see the surface of Mars pretty well, probes that we send to the surface Mars will survive for more then a few hours, and it's possible that humans may go to Mars in the next 20 years.

    With Venus, sure she's pretty, but she'll turn you into a cinder really quickly.

    --
    "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
  3. Then why... by thinmac · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Aren't we sending people there?!? If we're so close, then wouldn't this be an opertune time to take the next step in human exploration of space? I've gotten to the point where I seriously doubt the intent of NASA to ever send a manned mission further than the moon. They've become so addicted to safe, academic research in orbit or from afar that they've forgotten how to take that leap into the unknown which was (in my opinion) what made the early space program (Murcury, Gemini, and Apollo) truly great.

    --
    Narrative
  4. Two things... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One, it's not that much closer than usual. It's not a big enough deal to merit immediately sending humans. (But, the two sweet Mars rovers the US is sending next year, and probes from Europe and Japan, will take advantage of the close proximity of Mars to Earth on this orbit to increase data rates slightly.)

    Second, NASA doesn't set the priorities for what it does. It doesn't have much flexibility in how it uses its budget. Its missions and expenditures are determined by Congress in each year's budget. I assure you that there are many people inside NASA who are chomping at the bit to break humans out of Earth orbit (including many very high-ranking people inside the agency). But, Congress has to unleash NASA, and fund any mandate it approves.

    I'm with you, though, man. I want Americans to have the capability to go whereever the hell we want in the Solar System. :) (I'll settle for routine travel to Mars, though. :)