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Eh, almost every NASA robotic mission that has gotten this far in the design and selection process has also flown. They're way past the "fantastical half-baked
by Sharlin 7y ago
Eh, almost every NASA robotic mission that has gotten this far in the design and selection process has also flown. They're way past the "fantastical half-baked idea" stage. The financial reality is that NASA can only finance one or two billion-dollar missions per decade, and the competition is rather fierce. To be selected as the New Frontiers class mission of the late 2020s is a big deal, and you can be sure that at this point the proposing team has made a very solid case for their mission.
- Robotbeat 7y agoYup. The robotic program has a very good track record of successes, even for crazy stuff like the Mars Science Laboratory’s sky crane descent stage: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki_Af_o9Q9s https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki_Af_o9Q9s It’s the human spaceflight program that has had the, um, difficulties. There are signs of hope, though.