Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to ESA's socialists do the Moon for just $122 million dollars

Clementine cost less than $75 million in 1994...

according to this source. Factor in inflation and the current price would be about $93 million. That included the cost of a dedicated Titan IIG launch. Clemintine's costs were kept low in part because a lot of the sensors were developed using SDI technology so R&D wasn't a big factor. SMART's cost is kept low in part because they aren't having to pay much (if anything) for the launch as a secondary payload on an Ariane. Of the two, SMART has the benefit of better technology developed almost 10 years after Clementine, but that probably means that R&D represents a higher percentage of the cost. I look forward to the SMART mission and wish them well.

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