From Birger Johansson
Although Peter Stockhill argues tbat scientists may be willing to initiate space missions that will last beyond their life span (Letters, 1 April), the politicians and taxpayers who provide their budgets may not share their altruism.
However, an interstellar mission will not be undertaken for a long time. Meanwhile, increasing understanding of the genetic basis for ageing may extend the average life span by between 10 and 20 years. Translated into mission duration, this will mean a threefold increase of the volume of space within reach of exploration.
In regard to the “stop-gap” FOCAL mission, time may be a smaller problem than guiding a probe with the necessary precision to find the solar focus.
I suggest a simple remedy: when a new generation of probes is sent to the outer solar system (Pluto, Neptune, Pholus, and so on) let them carry radio telescope dishes that can cooperate as a single synthetic aperture antenna. As the aperture increases, the error when tracking an object decreases. A radio telescope 80 astronomical units across may not guarantee hitting the solar focus, but it would help a bit.
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