Press release is at http://sci.esa.int/content/news/index.cfm?aid=1&cid=1&oid=30022 ...and it's a bit of a shock -- Eddington is retained (using the Herschel/Planck bus), while Venus Express was killed by Director Southwood himself at the final meeting. The plan is to launch BepiColombo, Solar Orbiter and GAIA by 2012 by using unspecified "international partners" to cut the cost of BepiColombo, US collaboration to cut the cost of Solar Orbiter, and unspecified technical changes to cut GAIA's cost "with no science loss", and unifying BepiColombo and Solar Orbiter as a single project.
The announcement leaves as many questions as it answers -- particularly, what are the technical details of that international collaboration they're counting on to save BepiColombo and Solar Orbiter? As for the cancellation of Venus Express, the implication is that it could be restarted some time later if additional money comes in. If it isn't, this returns VESPER and VESAT to their previous status as high-priority candidates for the next Discovery selection. == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/
