NASA Selects Investigations for Future Key Missions

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 PHONE 818-354-5011

Guy Webster/DC Agle 818-393-9011/818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov / agle@jpl.nasa.gov

News release: 2011-136 May 5, 2011

NASA Selects Investigations for Future Key Missions

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-136&cid=release_2011-136

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA has selected three science investigations from which it will pick one
potential 2016 mission to look at Mars' interior for the first time; study an extraterrestrial sea on one
of Saturn's moons; or study in unprecedented detail the surface of a comet's nucleus. NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., would lead the Mars investigation.

Each investigation team will receive $3 million to conduct its mission's concept phase or preliminary
design studies and analyses. After another detailed review in 2012 of the concept studies, NASA will
select one to continue development efforts leading up to launch. The selected mission will be cost-
capped at $425 million, not including launch vehicle funding.

NASA's Discovery Program requested proposals for spaceflight investigations in June 2010. A panel
of NASA and other scientists and engineers reviewed 28 submissions. The selected investigations
could reveal much about the formation of our solar system and its dynamic processes. Three
technology developments for possible future planetary missions also were selected.

"NASA continues to do extraordinary science that is re-writing textbooks," said NASA
Administrator Charles Bolden. "Missions like these hold great promise to vastly increase our
knowledge, extend our reach into the solar system and inspire future generations of explorers."

The planetary missions selected to pursue preliminary design studies are:

-- Geophysical Monitoring Station (GEMS) would study the structure and composition of the interior
of Mars and advance understanding of the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets. Bruce
Banerdt of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is principal investigator. JPL
would manage the project.

The proposed Mars lander would carry three experiments. A seismometer for measuring Mars quakes
would yield knowledge about interior materials from the crust to the core. A thermal probe beneath
the surface would monitor heat flow from the planet's interior. Radio capability for Doppler tracking
of tiny variations in the planet's wobble would provide information about the size and nature of the
core. Understanding more about the deep interior of another planet would enable important new
comparisons with what is known about Earth's interior.
"We want to know more about how the pieces that formed planets came together in the first place,
and about the changes that took place afterwards," Banerdt said. "This would be a mission to
understand the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets."

-- Titan Mare Explorer (TiME) would provide the first direct exploration of an ocean environment
beyond Earth by landing in, and floating on, a large methane-ethane sea on Saturn's moon Titan. Ellen
Stofan of Proxemy Research Inc. in Gaithersburg, Md., is principal investigator. Johns Hopkins
University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., would manage the project.

-- Comet Hopper would study cometary evolution by landing on a comet multiple times and
observing its changes as it interacts with the sun. Jessica Sunshine of the University of Maryland in
College Park is principal investigator. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.,
would manage the project.

"This is high science return at a price that's right," said Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary
Science Division in Washington. "The selected studies clearly demonstrate a new era with missions
that all touch their targets to perform unique and exciting science."

The three selected technology development proposals will expand the ability to catalog near-Earth
objects, or NEOs; enhance the capability to determine the composition of comet ices; and validate a
new method to reveal the population of objects in the poorly understood, far-distant part of our solar
system. During the next several years, selected teams will receive funding that is determined through
contract negotiations to bring their respective technologies to a higher level of readiness. To be
considered for flight, teams must demonstrate progress in a future mission proposal competition.

The proposals selected for technology development are:

-- NEOCam would develop a telescope to study the origin and evolution of near-Earth Objects and
study the present risk of Earth-impact. It would generate a catalog of objects and accurate infrared
measurements to provide a better understanding of small bodies that cross our planet's orbit. Amy
Mainzer of JPL is principal investigator.

A space-based telescope, NEOCam would be positioned in a location about four times the distance
between Earth and the moon. From this lofty perch, NEOCam could observe the comings and goings
of NEOs every day without the impediments to efficient observing like cloud cover and even
daylight. The location in space NEOCam would inhabit is also important, because it allows the
monitoring of areas of the sky generally inaccessible to ground-based surveys.

"Near-Earth objects are some of the most bountiful, intriguing and least understood of Earth's
neighbors," said Amy Mainzer. "With NEOCam, we would get to know these solar system nomads in
greater detail."

-- Primitive Material Explorer (PriME) would develop a mass spectrometer that would provide highly
precise measurements of the chemical composition of a comet and explore the objects' role in
delivering volatiles to Earth. Anita Cochran of the University of Texas in Austin is principal
investigator.

-- Whipple: Reaching into the Outer Solar System would develop and validate a technique called
blind occultation that could lead to the discovery of various celestial objects in the outer solar system
and revolutionize our understanding of the area's structure. Charles Alcock of the Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., is principal investigator.

Created in 1992, the Discovery Program sponsors frequent, cost-capped solar system exploration
missions with highly focused scientific goals. The program's 11 missions include MESSENGER,
Dawn, Stardust, Deep Impact and Genesis. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.,
manages the program for the agency's Science Mission Directorate.

For more information about the Discovery Program, visit: http://discovery.nasa.gov . More
information about JPL is at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov .

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