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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!harpo!seismo!flinn
From: flinn@seismo.UUCP (E. A. Flinn)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Planetary Program
Message-ID: <586@seismo.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 1-Feb-84 13:09:22 EST
Article-I.D.: seismo.586
Posted: Wed Feb  1 13:09:22 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 7-Feb-84 10:09:07 EST
Organization: Center for Seismic Studies, Arlington, VA
Lines: 56


Al Globus (NASA Ames Research Center) recently wrote:

 > "There has been a great deal of hand ringing over the lack of new
 >starts in the planetary program.  Prepare thyself for heracy, I
 >think the lack of new starts is a good thing, although it should
 >end in a year or two.  Why?
  > "Well, when conducting science I believe that it is a good idea to
 >understand the results of your first experiment before charging
 >off on a second.  The planetary community should take a good hard
 >look at the Voyager data before designing the next set of planetary
 >missions, at least to the planets we've already visited.  This argument
 >is not valid for asteroids and comets of course."

	If planetary science were actually 'charging off' to acquire
new data before understanding what is already on hand, and if total
understanding of, say, the Voyager data were a prerequisite for
designing subsequent missions to whatever planet, this argument
might have some validity. However, this is not the case.  It takes many
years to process and analyze the data from any planetary mission, and
it takes at least *ten* years between the time that the planetary science
community comes to what can pass for agreement on what the priorities
are and what mission should be attempted next, and the approval of
that mission - and then another five to seven years before launch and
another two in flight - making roughly half a generation between our
realizing that it's desirable to do a Galileo, say, and actually
getting the data in hand.  OMB does its best to apply Globus's
argument, but planetary scientists obviously need more than one
mission per career, and the solar system contains a sufficient variety
of objects that we can be planning one or more missions while
previously approved missions are still under construction or in
flight.

	A few words to bring readers up to date on what the status of
planetary missions actually is.  Galileo is on track for launch in
1986 and arrival in 1988-89.  Things look reasonably good for the
forthcoming Voyager encounter.  The Venus Radar Mission was approved in
the FY1984 budget.  The FY1985 budget announced by the President today
includes a Mars Geoscience/Planetology Orbiter, the first of a series
of Planetary Observer missions.  ISEE has been renamed the
International Comet Explorer, and is headed for Giacobini-Zinner after
completing a a successful lunar flyby.  The next mission for which 
the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA Headquarters will 
seek approval is the Comet Rendezvous - Asteroid Flyby, the first 
Mariner Mark-II mission, which will rendezvous with Comet Kopff and do a 
flyby near asteroids yet to be selected.  The next highest priority 
mission after that will be a Titan Probe - Radar Mapping mission to Titan.


	I will certainly add 'hand ringing' and 'heracy' to the list
of NASA jargon.

		-- Ted Flinn (former Deputy Director of Planetary
			      Programs, NASA Headquarters)