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A comment on The IceCube Neutrino Detector at the South Pole Hits Paydirt. Parent comment

Re:The IceCube Neutrino Detector at the South Pole Hits Paydirt by ISL on Thursday July 12, 2018 @09:35PM (#17519928)
Agreed. If Musk had wanted to make a science contribution, he might have launched one of these [1] instead of a Tesla.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LARES_(satellite)

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Re:The IceCube Neutrino Detector at the South Pole Hits Paydirt by Diederich on Friday July 13, 2018 @12:13AM (#17520474)
Would they have allowed their satellite to be launched on an untested platform?

That's the idea of putting a 'worthless' payload up first.

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Re:The IceCube Neutrino Detector at the South Pole Hits Paydirt by ISL on Friday July 13, 2018 @12:59PM (#17524636)
A tungsten or brass (LAGEOS) sphere covered in optical and radar retroreflectors is cheap and inert. The major cost for that type of mission is the launch.

Given 3-6 months, $<1M all-in, and a team of engineers and scientists, it would be quite possible to get something ready to rock. Such an instrument would allow an ever-improving test of solar-system dynamics for many millenia.

If Elon is reading and plans to do something similar again, get in touch ([email protected]). We'll make science happen.

Or, just launch a dense one of these: http://www.landfallnavigation.com/davis-emergency-radar-refl...

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Re:The IceCube Neutrino Detector at the South Pole Hits Paydirt by IrishJourno on Friday July 13, 2018 @10:06AM (#17523069)
Agreed. I'm not a Musk fanboy, but most rockets are initially tested with inert dummy payloads. The choice wasn't between a Tesla and a science satellite, but between a Tesla and sand.
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