[Rand]

Originariamente inviato da drakend

Basterebbe mandare MSL1, MSL2, MSL3... tanto soldi da buttare per guerre ne hanno a iosa, ora che gli USA si ritirano dall'Iraq dovrebbero liberarsi un bel po' di soldi. Non ci vuole un genio per capire che il principale scopo dell'esplorazione del sistema solare è lo sfruttamento minerario ed energetico degli astri!

Con i soldi della guerra in Iraq puoi pagarci sonde più potenti di MSL, tipo questa :

Daedalus would be constructed in Earth orbit and have an initial mass of 54,000 metric tons, including 50,000 tons of fuel and 500 tons of scientific payload. Daedalus was to be a two-stage spacecraft. The first stage would operate for two years, taking the spacecraft to 7.1% of light speed (0.071 c), and then after it was jettisoned the second stage would fire for 1.8 years, bringing the spacecraft up to about 12% of light speed (0.12 c) before being shut down for a 46-year cruise period. Due to the extreme temperature range of operation required (from near absolute zero to 1,900 K) the engine bells and support structure would be made of beryllium, which retains strength even at cryogenic temperatures.

This velocity is well beyond the capabilities of chemical rockets, or even the type of nuclear pulse propulsion studied during Project Orion. Instead, Daedalus would be propelled by a fusion rocket using pellets of deuterium/helium-3 mix that would be ignited in the reaction chamber by inertial confinement using electron beams. 250 pellets would be detonated per second, and the resulting plasma would be directed by a magnetic nozzle. Due to the scarcity of helium-3 it was to be mined from the atmosphere of Jupiter via large hot-air balloon supported robotic factories over a 20 year period.

The second stage would have two 5-meter optical telescopes and two 20-meter radio telescopes. About 25 years after launch these telescopes would begin examining the area around Barnard's Star to learn more about any accompanying planets. This information would be sent back to Earth, using the 40-meter diameter second stage engine bell as a communications dish, and targets of interest would be selected. Since the spacecraft would not decelerate upon reaching Barnard's Star, Daedalus would carry 18 autonomous sub-probes that would be launched between 7.2 and 1.8 years before the main craft entered the target system. These sub-probes would be propelled by nuclear-powered ion drives and carry cameras, spectrometers, and other sensory equipment. They would fly past their targets, still travelling at 12% of the speed of light, and transmit their findings back to the Daedalus second stage mothership.

Originariamente inviato da Marko91

Obama non sembra intenzionato ad inondare di soldi la NASA.

Forse ci sarà un aumento dei finanziamenti alla NASA nell'ambito "creaiamo lavoro per superare la crisi", ma dubito che sarà ingente. Siamo comunque ben sotto i picchi degli anni di sviluppo del progetto Apollo: