Aerocapture and optical-coms are acknowledged as being potentially useful but not likely to happen.
In summary the prospect of implementing laser links from Icy Giants will result in a significantboost to returned information capacity from the outer solar system. The links presented in this report are conservative and based on reasonable extrapolation of existing technologies. The mostformidable challenge is the formulation of an affordable architecture to support pointing back ofthe laser beam from the outer reaches of the solar system. If this problem is solved the data-ratesreported here can be further improved by scaling the laser power either through technologydevelopment or wavelength multiplexing of existing laser technology.
BTW, aerocapture on Earth is proven. The problem is arrocapture in a world where you don't understand the atmosphere. In addition, the maneuver, AIUI, depends on the local conditions, not something forecasted, but observed. In Earth it's trivial, but you can't get an Eumesat report of weather at Uranus.
[...] suppose the spacecraft enters and the sensors detect that the atmosphere is thinner than expected, so the computer steers the vehicle in deeper in order to slow down, but then it suddenly encounters much denser atmosphere, and now it's too deep to steer up and get to less dense atmosphere before it burns up.
Working this out (the dual mission) would be somewhat difficult. The reason is that you get some economy from building near-identical spacecraft, and it's not going to be possible to do that and have NASA build one and ESA build the other. So the logical thing to do would be to have NASA (JPL or APL) build two spacecraft and have the international partners contribute dual copies of many instruments. That of course gets thornier because the United States has scientists who want to supply instruments. JAXA could also supply instruments too.These agreements require "clean interfaces" and bartering goods and services, not money, which means that NASA cannot just build the spacecraft and expect ESA to send over money.Like I said, not easy. But not impossible.
This problem should be easier at giant planets -
The report recommends the use of 4 to 5 eMMRTGs for an orbiter mission. If a second craft were built as either an orbiter or a flyby, it would require an additional 4 to 5 eMMRTGs.Anyone know if NASA is expected to have that much plutonium available by the late 2020s, when the eMMRTGs are likely be fueled?
“The curious thing about Uranus and Neptune is that, although they look very similar, something about their interiors is actually quite a bit different,” Jonathan Fortney, a professor at UC Santa Cruz and one of the authors on the report, tells The Verge. “And we don’t really know why that is.”
The focus on Uranus is mostly a matter of distance, says Fortney. “Neptune’s further away and it takes longer to get there, so missions to Neptune are always going to be more expensive,” he says. All four mission plans would run about $2 billion each — a little more than half the cost of the Cassini mission at Saturn.
Though four missions are proposed, realistically only one could be picked. “There’s no way there’d be money for more than one,” says Fortney.
Sill Fortney says now is the time to think about getting started on one of these missions. The year 2029 may seem far off, but spacecraft take years to develop. “You can’t just wait around till the mid 2020s,” he says. “Too much time would have passed.” But soon the planetary science community will meet again to determine the top mission priorities for the years ahead. This most recent report will factor into those decisions, and Fortney thinks there may be a strong case to go to Uranus and Neptune.“I think those are going to be some of the main science targets of the next decade,” he says.
Apparently the Chinese have plans for a mission to Uranus around 2048.https://mobile.twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/912948443601096705Also Ganymede has interested them as well.https://mobile.twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/912977413457551360
Quote from: Star One on 09/27/2017 07:26 pmApparently the Chinese have plans for a mission to Uranus around 2048.https://mobile.twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/912948443601096705Also Ganymede has interested them as well.https://mobile.twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/912977413457551360The slide also shows a Chinese Mars sample return in the 2020s. I wonder if this is lighting a fire under NASA?
Quote from: vjkane on 09/27/2017 07:43 pmThe slide also shows a Chinese Mars sample return in the 2020s. I wonder if this is lighting a fire under NASA?NASA would love to do those things whether China was doing them or not. It's congress you want to look for some flames.
The slide also shows a Chinese Mars sample return in the 2020s. I wonder if this is lighting a fire under NASA?
Quote from: whitelancer64 on 09/27/2017 08:12 pmQuote from: vjkane on 09/27/2017 07:43 pmThe slide also shows a Chinese Mars sample return in the 2020s. I wonder if this is lighting a fire under NASA?NASA would love to do those things whether China was doing them or not. It's congress you want to look for some flames.This summer NASA's managers have shown a renewed strong interesting in doing sample return in the 2020s instead of in the vague, usually 2030s, they had before.
This concept is relevant up this thread.Triton Hopper: Exploring Neptune's Captured Kuiper Belt Object
Quote from: Star One on 04/01/2018 08:43 pmThis concept is relevant up this thread.Triton Hopper: Exploring Neptune's Captured Kuiper Belt ObjectGood to see this idea is still being...bounced...around Still an excellent idea, although I wouldn't expect it to be prioritized over the orbiter and probe options; some time ago the study groups culled the prospects of cubesats and landers.