Yuri_Armstrong":1ewvv5m4 said:
Why not explore the the moons of Mars? Let's go to Phobos. Look at the monolith that was put there. It would be a good compromise between the parties involved in this thread. We would be landing on a moon, an asteroid, and in the vicinity of Mars. The time to get to Phobos would be about 6 months. This would be a lot better than a mission to an NEA!
Geoffrey Landis":1ewvv5m4 said:
Why not a near Earth asteroid? Many reasons. First, most asteroids are not as easy to get to
as the moons of Mars. A few Near-Earth Asteroids (NEA) with low inclination have been
identified; however, most of these do not have low-energy opportunities at frequent regular
intervals. The advantage of the moons of Mars is they are available every two years. Most
important, however, the moons of Mars are near Mars. They are both a path to Mars, and a point
from which to study Mars. Exploration of an asteroid, however interesting scientifically, is not a
step that leads directly to the desired goal of Mars exploration.
Geoffrey Landis":1ewvv5m4 said:
most asteroids are not as easy to get to as the moons of Mars
You don't need to start with more than one, and don't have a need to go directly to Mars. I prefer Jupiter, though Saturn might be more friendly, and Neptune gives a very nice view from the dining room. I'll stop here, but i hope you get an idea.
This ground-hugging makes me sick. All that trouble to get to LEO and then double trouble to land in the next gravity well is just putting things off in some far away (20 years+ usually), never to be, future.
Anyway, Phobos mission doesn't need a lander (10 extra years and too much money), gets us deep space vehicle, and not to mention 'minor' science that could be done there. If explorer can 'dock' with Phobos, it can 'land' on Deimos too, and could orbit Venus as well.
If teleoperating, which 'just' needs to get spaceworthy, is by that time practised on the Moon, one could do a lot of sniffing on Mars, Venus and between, much easier with very small lag.
If there is a NEO, which is closer, and vehicle is ready, it would be a real shame to pass it though, and i have a strong confidence many such will be found, perhaps not so glamorous, but very important anyway, since we don't know enough about them, and their numbers are huge.
This whole discussion is a bit off, because nothing of this will happened on this side of 10-15 years, that's why i'm arguing for something that can go anywhere, and when it's ready, just set the course.