European space prepares to make a really big decision

[klr]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters ... -mak.shtml

More than 300 of Europe's leading space scientists gathered in Paris this week to discuss how to spend more than a billion euros. The options? Well, try to choose between these three:

(1) a 20m-long telescope called IXO that could see the very "edge" of a black hole; or (2) a trio of satellites collectively known as LISA which might be able to detect the ripples in space-time left by the moment of creation itself; or (3) a pair of spacecraft that would visit two of the most promising locations for life beyond Earth in our Solar System. This is called EJSM/Laplace.

The European Space Agency is working through the process of selecting a large mission to do something extraordinary, with the idea of launching the venture in 2020 or soon after. The start of the next decade might seem a long way away, but in the business of space this type of extended planning is very common.

The mission concepts being considered in this instance stretch what we know scientifically and challenge what we think we're capable of achieving technologically. And the reality is that in the case of two of the three missions I'll discuss on this page, several million euros will be spent just to say "no, we're not going to do that this time".

This week's meeting was a beauty pageant, if you like. It was a chance for the proponents of each mission concept to sell their idea to the wider community, and, very importantly, to the committee members in the audience who will make the final decision.

So what exactly is on offer? ...

Much, much more text - and links to big PDFs - at the link above.

[cowiz]

What about the other option? Give the money to pawiz. You know it makes sense!

[klr]

What about the other option? Give the money to pawiz. You know it makes sense!

Now, now ... we wouldn't want this serious thread prematurely derailed, would we?

[Atheist-Lite]

Build the big telescope and send it to orbit Europa and Ganymede? Two out of three ain't bad?

[Horwood Beer-Master]

Build the big telescope and send it to orbit Europa and Ganymede? Two out of three ain't bad?

Build a big spaceship and send Horwood to Ganymede.

[Clinton Huxley]

I say the EU should put the money into a long-term, low-risk investment vehicle, to provide an income for when it gets old.

[FBM]

(3) a pair of spacecraft that would visit two of the most promising locations for life beyond Earth in our Solar System. This is called EJSM/Laplace.

I'd vote for this one if they'd give me a seat on one of the spacecrafts.

[JOZeldenrust]

Why the obsession with extraterrestrial life?Even if there's life outside Earth in this solar system, it's going to be really primitive, so not very interesting from a social point of view, and biologically very different from us, so not very interesting froma medical point of view either.

Option one and two make sense. They're likely to yield real new insight. Even if we find life in the solar system, it's not going to change the way we see the universe.

[klr]

Why the obsession with extraterrestrial life?Even if there's life outside Earth in this solar system, it's going to be really primitive, so not very interesting from a social point of view, and biologically very different from us, so not very interesting froma medical point of view either.

Option one and two make sense. They're likely to yield real new insight. Even if we find life in the solar system, it's not going to change the way we see the universe.

From a scientific point of view, I would say that makes it a hugely attractive option - without prejudicing the other two. Anything that's new and/or different is always attractive to science. A form of life that is based on something other than DNA/RNA and that has (probably) taken a very different evolutionary path would be a huge advance for science. If nothing else, it might give major insights into the possible pathways for the evolution of life throughout the cosmos. I wouldn't underestimate the social impact either. The confirmation that yes, there is life elsewhere - even if primitive - would further undercut the notion that we are "special" or "unique".

[FBM]

What's interesting to some is blah to others. I'd be thrilled to find out how life evolved on another planet, and more thrilled to see it with my own eyes. Not to say that warps and ripples in space-time aren't interesting, just that those things are common. Life seems to be much, much more rare in the universe.

[hackenslash]

My vote would go to LISA, because the detection of gravitational waves stands a good chance of at least ruling out some of our proposed unification theories, thereby narrowing the field and giving us a better idea of what a final theory will look like.

I like IXO as well.

Hell, they're all good missions.

[Random Mutant]

Why the obsession with extraterrestrial life?Even if there's life outside Earth in this solar system, it's going to be really primitive, so not very interesting from a social point of view, and biologically very different from us, so not very interesting froma medical point of view either.

Option one and two make sense. They're likely to yield real new insight. Even if we find life in the solar system, it's not going to change the way we see the universe.

From a scientific point of view, I would say that makes it a hugely attractive option - without prejudicing the other two. Anything that's new and/or different is always attractive to science. A form of life that is based on something other than DNA/RNA and that has (probably) taken a very different evolutionary path would be a huge advance for science. If nothing else, it might give major insights into the possible pathways for the evolution of life throughout the cosmos. I wouldn't underestimate the social impact either. The confirmation that yes, there is life elsewhere - even if primitive - would further undercut the notion that we are "special" or "unique".

[DaveDodo007]

Why not give them more money and do all three? Where hardly going to miss the odd trident submarine or an aircraft carrier that has no planes.

[Coito ergo sum]

Why the obsession with extraterrestrial life?Even if there's life outside Earth in this solar system, it's going to be really primitive, so not very interesting from a social point of view, and biologically very different from us, so not very interesting froma medical point of view either.

Option one and two make sense. They're likely to yield real new insight. Even if we find life in the solar system, it's not going to change the way we see the universe.

From a scientific point of view, I would say that makes it a hugely attractive option - without prejudicing the other two. Anything that's new and/or different is always attractive to science. A form of life that is based on something other than DNA/RNA and that has (probably) taken a very different evolutionary path would be a huge advance for science. If nothing else, it might give major insights into the possible pathways for the evolution of life throughout the cosmos. I wouldn't underestimate the social impact either. The confirmation that yes, there is life elsewhere - even if primitive - would further undercut the notion that we are "special" or "unique".

Discovering life outside of Earth would also be one of the top, if not the top, scientific discoveries in all of human history. Far from being "uninteresting" it would monumentally interesting, and amazing. It would prove that life can exist outside of Earth, and if it is in our solar system, it provides a tad bit of proof that life in the universe may not be particularly rare. And, if life in the universe is not particularly rare, then perhaps intelligent life if plentiful in the universe too.

I am all for all three of these efforts. I say, triple the budget and do them all. There can hardly be a more worthwhile Euro spent than a Euro on projects like these. Given the billions flushed down the metaphorical toilet on wasteful government programs in the US and Europe, I think there are far more deserving places to cut corners than one of the few government programs that actually gets results and increases the sum of human knowledge.

We need a smiley that has the smiley guy standing and pontificating on a soapbox. I am incapable of creating smileys, though.

[hackenslash]