tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-270899075443508100.post1291721491542782329..comments2024-01-03T20:28:17.727-08:00Comments on Future Planetary Exploration: MEPAG Meeting Part 2 - Mid-range RoverVan Kanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14227978868817989527noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-270899075443508100.post-33591779943461946322009-08-08T10:15:22.145-07:002009-08-08T10:15:22.145-07:00One thing that I've not seen discussed in deta...One thing that I've not seen discussed in detail is an estimation of relative value of MSR data return vs. putting more resources towards developing advanced in situ instrumentation suitable for a platform like MRR to deliver data of approximately equivalent quality (and presumably from several different surface locales).<br /><br />I understand that the groundside Apollo/Luna sample analyses are continually touted as key justifications for the entire MSR concept, and of course that's obvious. However, it appears increasingly unlikely that they'll ever have enough funding to pull it off (even in a multinational/joint scenario), and the "all eggs/one basket" constraint is just too damn risky, IMHO. <br /><br />It might be more prudent (and much more practical from a funding & risk standpoint) to focus on developing a standardized advanced instrumentation suite within a fixed payload mass limit designed to fulfill the prioritized primary science objectives of MSR on an MRR-class platform, and push to launch 3 or 4 of them, at least.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com