NASA Will Join Japan And Italy On Mission To Mercury; ETA 2022 - Polidicks

[QUOTE]The U.S. is joining Italy and Japan on a trip to Mercury. Once there, the joint mission will determine the makeup and history of a planet that's been difficult to study because of its proximity to the sun. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden visited Rome last week and signed an agreement with the Italian Space Agency. The spacecraft for the mission, called BepiColombo, is being built and tested now. Estimated time of arrival: 2022.[/quote] [url]http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-06/nasa-joins-mission-mercury[/url]

Hope they have aircon.

That must be a huge spaceship, to fit all three countries in it. Italy and Japan are sizeable, but the US is massive.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ordR7PDWoYc[/media] Somehow the first thing that came to mind.

Wait is this an actual manned spacecraft? If so this is gonna be awesome Ah nevermind its just a probe, slighly less hyped now

snip

[QUOTE=Saxon;41206923]Wait is this an actual manned spacecraft? If so this is gonna be awesome Ah nevermind its just a probe, slighly less hyped now[/QUOTE] Putting people on Mars is sort of attainable but Mercury is simply too hostile in terms of its environmental conditions to send astronauts to

[QUOTE=Sgt-NiallR;41206755]That must be a huge spaceship, to fit all three countries in it. Italy and Japan are sizeable, but the US is massive.[/QUOTE] Not the US, just NASA. So basically the city of Houston.

It would be cool to see a rover on mercury.

[QUOTE=GameAdict;41206721]Hope they have aircon.[/QUOTE] The far side of Mercury is actually very cold.

[QUOTE=ZCaliber;41206875] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ordR7PDWoYc[/media] Somehow the first thing that came to mind.[/QUOTE] Not this? [video=youtube;oxeZmiv5MM8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxeZmiv5MM8[/video]

I'm guessing that this one is planned to be a bit more long-lived than the one Russia sent? It melted after a few photos.

I'm excited.

Hopefully this will end better than our last mission to space... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnDeX5EMy88[/media]

[QUOTE=Saxon;41206923]Wait is this an actual manned spacecraft? If so this is gonna be awesome Ah nevermind its just a probe, slighly less hyped now[/QUOTE] Do you [i]want[/i] to see astronauts die horribly?

[QUOTE=Chrille;41208404]Do you [I]want[/I] to see astronauts die horribly?[/QUOTE] Yes I take perverse pleasure in watching humans melt

[QUOTE=Zeke129;41207484]I'm guessing that this one is planned to be a bit more long-lived than the one Russia sent? It melted after a few photos.[/QUOTE] Nah that was Venus. There have only ever been two probes sent to Mercury; one in '75, the other in '08, both by NASA.

[QUOTE=Chrille;41208404]Do you [i]want[/i] to see astronauts die horribly?[/QUOTE] I reckon it would be survivable with shiny heatshields in the transition region between the terminally hot side and the terminally cold, with no crazy winds to worry about because Mercury has a very tenuous atmosphere

NASA will bring the trained staff, Japan will bring the amazing technology and Italy will bring the crippling debt

What's the temperature of Mercury's surface again? 426 Celsius? Yeh.

[QUOTE=Derp Y. Mail;41209330]What's the temperature of Mercury's surface again? 426 Celsius? Yeh.[/QUOTE] 340 Kevlin according to Wikipedia. A toasty 66 degrees but it also says that Mercury's temperature range is largest in the solar system from hot to fucking hot

By the time we get to 2022, we'd most likely have the technology to allow a rover to sustain itself much longer in the heat.

[QUOTE=redBadger;41209834]By the time we get to 2022, we'd most likely have the technology to allow a rover to sustain itself much longer in the heat.[/QUOTE] With budget cuts and a stronger focus on Mars before any other planet, I'm not too sure about that.

Oh man, i'd love to see some pictures of the sun from mercury.

[QUOTE=Midas22;41209345]340 Kevlin according to Wikipedia. A toasty 66 degrees but it also says that Mercury's temperature range is largest in the solar system from hot to fucking hot[/QUOTE] the minimum is 80 kelvin that's -193 degrees C

[QUOTE=Zeke129;41207484]I'm guessing that this one is planned to be a bit more long-lived than the one Russia sent? It melted after a few photos.[/QUOTE] that was Venus, mercury is damn difficult to hit as any probe sent needs to slow the fuck down to get into an orbit, that's why most of our stuff sent there just does 3-4 flybys and wizzes off into space

I wonder if they're gonna put a lander in and try to touch down on the day/night terminator. I'd love to see some HD pictures from Mercury's surface.

[QUOTE=Midas22;41209329]NASA will bring the trained staff, Japan will bring the amazing technology and Italy will bring the crippling debt[/QUOTE] and de spaghetti! [editline]27th June 2013[/editline] i dont get it though what does mercury have to offer?

[QUOTE=Poo Monst3r;41211146]i dont get it though what does mercury have to offer?[/QUOTE] this mission is to determine what kind of minerals Mercury is made of, whether the planet's core is molten or not, and why it has such a freaky magnetic field - this information will then tell us about how the inner planets (Venus, Mercury, Mars and Earth) are formed, which we can then use to determine how common planets like Earth are in the universe. so this mission will be pretty important.

[QUOTE=Cone;41211382]this mission is to determine what kind of minerals Mercury is made of, whether the planet's core is molten or not, and why it has such a freaky magnetic field - this information will then tell us about how the inner planets (Venus, Mercury, Mars and Earth) are formed, which we can then use to determine how common planets like Earth are in the universe. so this mission will be pretty important.[/QUOTE]I think it would be fucking hilarious if they get there and there's literally tons of mercury. Oceans of it just beneath the surface.