They're saying 90 days...but on astrobiology they are working on a 104 day schedule (difference between Sols and Earth daays, perhaps?)
In any event, these puppies ought to last quite a bit longer than 90 days. They are just keeping expectations down. (Like they are not talking AT ALL about finding fossils, although the science package can do this.)
"With the ISS serving practically no purpose, and the shuttle fleet's reevaluation after Columbia was destroyed, there is no better time than now to redirect NASA and give them a real goal. This gives NASA an excuse to stop funding the ISS money pit and mothball the shuttles."
"If the resources spent on those two projects could be diverted to a singular goal, such as sending people to Mars, then we should have the ability to accomplish it."
EXACTLY. The press releases I've seen call for five years of five percent increases and the slashing of non-Mars spending. That will translate into a budget of around $20B by FY2010.
Nonesense. Gasoline is purchased at market price across the world. Gasoline in the US is cheaper than in the rest of the world because we don't pile as many taxes on it.
Hm.
Seeing as the Germans, at least, are responsible for one of the science instruments on the MERs, you are wrong.
And, by the way, having Beagle fail is not "success" in the way normal people define it.
"Beagle was built at a cost of around 45m, whereas NASA spent 512m."
Total cost for TWO rovers and launch costs were around $850 M, so the figure above is impossible. In addition, the Beagle figure omits launch costs. The equivalent cost for one US rover would be around $375 M (assuming $100 M in launch costs).
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Actually, we have excellent radar-generated maps from the US Magellan mission, one of the most successful planetary probes ever launched.
You also get the lifelessness in the Namib and in some places in the Australian outback.
They're saying 90 days...but on astrobiology they are working on a 104 day schedule (difference between Sols and Earth daays, perhaps?) In any event, these puppies ought to last quite a bit longer than 90 days. They are just keeping expectations down. (Like they are not talking AT ALL about finding fossils, although the science package can do this.)
"With the ISS serving practically no purpose, and the shuttle fleet's reevaluation after Columbia was destroyed, there is no better time than now to redirect NASA and give them a real goal. This gives NASA an excuse to stop funding the ISS money pit and mothball the shuttles." "If the resources spent on those two projects could be diverted to a singular goal, such as sending people to Mars, then we should have the ability to accomplish it." EXACTLY. The press releases I've seen call for five years of five percent increases and the slashing of non-Mars spending. That will translate into a budget of around $20B by FY2010.
Nonesense. Gasoline is purchased at market price across the world. Gasoline in the US is cheaper than in the rest of the world because we don't pile as many taxes on it.
Hm. Seeing as the Germans, at least, are responsible for one of the science instruments on the MERs, you are wrong. And, by the way, having Beagle fail is not "success" in the way normal people define it.
"Beagle was built at a cost of around 45m, whereas NASA spent 512m." Total cost for TWO rovers and launch costs were around $850 M, so the figure above is impossible. In addition, the Beagle figure omits launch costs. The equivalent cost for one US rover would be around $375 M (assuming $100 M in launch costs).