Re: Timelines

Robert Martinu wrote:
> Cassini needed Venus, Earth Jupiter and Saturn to be in the right 
> positions, you don't get that every day.

Fair enough.

> Recycling existing tech to be used as testbed for a new kind of engine 
> sounds shaky at best. Powerplant, sensors, software thats much more 
> autonomous then the one of current probes, each a challenge on its own, 
> not to talk about the mass constraints - available carriers can launch 
> only so much.

Well it depends; if the prototype Alderson Drive masses 100 tons and 
needs a megawatt of AC at 5 kV and 400 Hz, then you've certainly got a 
bigger challenge than the simple "get a spacecraft to Saturn [like we've 
done before]".