Pluto attemptIt is well known that the new SF Controller has been worried about the lack of any success with attempts to map the surface of Pluto. He is determined to make the Solar System secure, and this remains the one area we have no knowledge of.The Inner PlanetsWe have a small embassy re-established on Mercury, and are on good enough terms with the Mercurians for there to be no problem there. Venus is under charge of the BiPartite Commission, and of course Earth and Mars are secure.The Outer PlanetsJupiter appears to have no life of any sort, and to be remarkably inhospitable. Saturn is, of course, in its state of civil war, with no apparent end in sight, and now it has spilled out over onto Neptune. This leaves only Pluto, but we have no knowledge of the Pluto/Charon system at all. |
Argo and the Ion DriveImpulse motors are, as we know, limited in range, and whereas a monatomic powered ship may make it, we have none currently to spare, and it is certainly straining the capacity of such a vessel.Professor Chuang's ion drive is therefore very timely, and the SF Controller argues that if nothing else, a journey to Pluto will be an excellent test run. Such views have not gone down well in Earth Government, and it is know that Dare has had a hard time arguing the issue with Prime Minister Piers Blasco. But Dare is right: such a journey will be an excellent test of the ion drive system! extra reporting by P.F. Hamilton. |
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