QUOTE (Del Palmer @ Aug 30 2007, 11:57 AM)
Anyone have any information/speculation on when such a balloon might fly?
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=1448This particular incarnation is Kevin Baines' VALOR Discovery mission proposal, which
was submitted to the last round but not selected.. Kevin told me the other week that in
fact they weren't dinged too badly on the technology readiness but were hit (unfairly)
on other factors.
Disco is such a crapshoot.
But anyway, there are Venus balloon concepts out there which are less elaborate than
the New Frontiers class ideas that Emily mentions.
Something I have observed (in thinking about Titan) is that no planetary balloon has flown
(VEGA) or even got close to flying (Mars 96) as the sole element of a mission. Somehow
the science value vs risk tradeoff never seems to work. A 'politically viable' balloon IMHO has to be
an add-on, part of a broader scientific architecture (such that if the balloon tanks, the whole
mission isnt seen to fail), and quite possibly justified on technology development and outreach
grounds rather than purely scientific ones. Hence VEGAs were drop-offs with landers en route to
Halley, and Mars-96 balloon was part of a small armada of small landers, penetrators etc.
Jaques Blamont last week at Europlanet disagreed with me of course, but I contend that
often the case that science carried on balloons is important and/or has to be done from a
balloon (rather than from a platform whose perceived risk is lower, whatever the real
risks happen to be) is not well made.