Larry J wrote
...was because the price for each was spiralling out of control.

Alex writes:
Europa Orbiter, yes. However, the cost for New Horizons (the Pluto mission) was *not* "spiralling out of control." In fact, New Horizons had just been competitively selected with hard cost caps and was in the early stages of development. If anything, NH was *cheaper* that the previous iteration. Cancelling a $500 million mission that has a need to utilize a 2007 Jupiter gravity assist in the hopes that a more expensive mission *might* be flown later, with technology that does not yet exist, and which may not even complete the Group 1 science objectives (atmospheric observations before collapese), is stupid. Anyone who believes that this magic pixie NEP technology is "right around the corner" has been watching too much Star Trek.

Alex R. Blackwell
University of Hawaii