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From: szabo@crg5.UUCP (Nick Szabo)
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: space news from Jan 7 AW&ST
Message-ID: <21227@crg5.UUCP>
Date: 25 Feb 91 05:45:03 GMT
References: <1991Feb25.013310.8439@zoo.toronto.edu>
Reply-To: szabo@crg5.UUCP (Nick Szabo)
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Inc
Lines: 40

In article <1991Feb25.013310.8439@zoo.toronto.edu> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes:

>NASA to establish a Nuclear Propulsion Systems Office at Lewis, as a
>joint project with DoE and DoD, to resume work in advanced propulsion.
>[About %$#$%#$%ing time!!!]  The official goal is a functional test
>engine by 2005 to support Moon/Mars efforts.  Both nuclear-thermal
>[classical nuclear rockets] and nuclear-electric [nuclear-powered
>ion thrusters] are being considered....

I agree, this is great news!  This is another step NASA can take
to get back into the technology development instead of technology
operation business. (For some other worthwhile items to pursue, see
the Japanese Space Program thread).   Nuclear rockets are of course not 
tied to the Moon or Mars; they would be especially useful for visiting 
asteroids, comets, and Jupiter.  They might even replace chemical rockets 
as GEO comsat upper stages.


>Pictures of Earth and Moon from the Galileo flyby Dec 8.  Nothing remarkable.

Some interesting new angles, though.  Also, think about the resolution,
and compare it to Voyager.... if Galileo makes it out there, we're going
to have some _incredible_ pictures of Io (volcanoes and the most 
differentiated geology in the solar system) and Europa (complex patterns 
of melting ice and dirt and  ????? <- we could find out!) and many of the 
other moons (I hope they get a shot at Metis.... :-)

Here's another item for NASA -- how about a Galileo follow-on?  After
Galileo runs out of steam, it would be good to have something at Jupiter
to look closer at all the new things Galileo has found and new questions
it has raised.  Nothing ambitious -- just a small Jupiter orbiter to
be launched by a Delta or Atlas/Centaur, containing a smaller, more modern
bus and instruments (I would guess that we can fit instruments with a 
resolution similar to Galileo's on a Delta if we try).  If we start now 
it could get there by the time Galileo poops out.  Whadya think?


-- 
Nick Szabo			szabo@sequent.com
"What are the _facts_, and to how many decimal places?"  -- RAH