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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."

8 of 172 comments (clear)

  1. Very Welcome News... by trotski · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is very welcome news!

    Just the other day I was talking to a friend about why there is so much more interest in Mars than there is in Venus. There are plenty of difficult questions that more missions to Venus could answer.

    I'm very interested in what the results of this mission well be, there is after all so much to learn.

    Of course, we need an obligatory Simpsons quote here:

    "mmmmmmm..... gummie Venus"

    --

    "Entropy is the bad-guy, and he is everywhere"
    1. Re:Very Welcome News... by Pyromage · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "she'll turn you into a cinder"

      Sounds like someone I know.

      But seriously, this is why it is worth doing! Nothing ever got done by taking the easy way out! While I'm all for the Mars trip, and it probably should be first, I think we must go to Venus, because there is much there to learn, and because it is hard. The moon was hard once, and we did it. We can do it again!

      I know we won't get there soon, but I want to see us accomplish this by the time I die.

      The thing with Mars is that we know how to do it: We make a big enough ship with enough fuel to get there and back (Which we can do, it'd just be a lot). You put some hydroponics on board. It's tech we have.

      Venus would require the same, and a lot more to stay alive there. It's truly a new frontier; Mars is merely a barren one. There is something romantic about Mars, but Venus' environment will fight tooth and nail to keep us away from her.

      I don't know about you guys, but that makes me wonder that much more what color her panties are.

  2. Re:how will this affect me? by JesusPGT · · Score: 2, Interesting

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

    Screw all that "outside" nonsense, get all the mars you want right here, straight from the Mars Orbital Camera. Note, requires a special program to view the files, but it's free.

  3. Not much point right now... by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Well, there's not much point in sending humans to Venus right now.

    What would humans do in orbit around Venus that can't be done from a remote station here on earth?
    "Hello Mission Control, the Venesian atmosphere is cloudy, and I cannot see a thing. I am about to launch the Venus probe with it's IR/UV/Radio-scannerthingamagig. BTW, I am still stuck in this tin can. I haven't experienced gravity in over a year, and my bones are disintigrating. The air is stale, the food is boring and I am about to go crazy."

    Before you even start thinking about sending someone to another planet, there's a zillion other things to think about first. How to build a ship, how to feed the crew, what are the long term effects of space travel, etc. We still have a ways to go. A Satellite could go there now.

    Remove satellites can do it far cheaper then a manned mission. If we're going to send humans anywhere, let send them someplace where they could acually walk.

    --
    "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
  4. Popup ads everywhere! by whereiswaldo · · Score: 2, Interesting


    I hereby make a request that Slashdot should prohibit linking of any sites in a front page story which use popup or popunder ads.

    All those in favour, say "I".

    (Note to moderator: a little leeway, please)

  5. orbital mechanics by PhreakOfTime · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If we're so close, then wouldn't this be an opertune time to take the next step in human exploration of space

    Actually, orbital mechanics are a bit more complicated than just being 'close'. Going to mars is not a straight-line shot, as it might seem. It involves more of a elliptical shape originating at the earth. Remeber, when you want to go to mars, you have to aim at where the planet will be in 18 months when you get there, not aim at where it is when you leave. If your in a moving car with a pumpkin and happen to be coming upon your ex's mailbox, do you throw the pumpkin at where the mailbox is when you release it, or where the mailbox will be when the pumpkin gets there.

    No, Im not a professor or anything, and no I have no links to prove my point, and Im sure a little googling would turn up a better answer, with some pretty pics too. Maybe I just watched Mechanical Universe too much as a child

    -SiliconFool
  6. Re:Metrics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting
    > Remember NASA miles not kilometers!

    #1. Dumb, old, lame joke. +4 Funny?? don't waste my time. The signal to noise ratio around here is pitiful of late. why, back in my day, +5 funny was lethal and used against the germans (but with great care of course)..
    (nod to our german friends: the US is now run by an autocratic and jingoistic cabal, playing off the peoples' fears and emotions to promote their agenda of world domination. We even have an office of Fatherland Security. how times change.. go figure. )

    #2. ESA not NASA. The stupid joke doesn't even apply. Pay attention!

    ps. 1 mile = 1.609344 km. You just went splat.

    pps. It was really a engineers vs. scientists breakdown. Most engineers of the older generation still work in imperial units. The spacecraft was built by engineers at Lockhead Martin (or the like). It was run by Scientists at NASA, who by in large use metric for everything. Culture clash played a large role in a really dumb mistake. (I'd like to see you write a bugless program that has to work flawlessly the first time it is trialed in a real situation. )

    Conclusion: The metric system is unpatriotic.
    Damn the french! They've been planning for dominance on Mars for centuries!

    Criticism Part II: The slashdot story:
    It will be closer by around 191 million miles and will end up 85 times brighter about August next year.


    This reads like a perscription drug ad. 85 times brighter than what?? 191 million miles closer to where? Considering the Earth is about 92.5 million miles from the sun on average, and Mars is about 140 million miles out from the sun, and a mars year is approx 2 earth years, what's the big deal here?? We pass by close to Mars every 1.75 earth years or so.

    I guess I should stop posting RTFA.

  7. Invasion? by codexus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This apparently is the first time it's been this close since the Neanderthals.

    So that's the best time for the martians to launch their invasion fleet?

    --
    True warriors use the Klingon Google