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(meteorobs) FWD: NASA Seeks Proposals For Fifth Discovery Mission


Any meteorics-related proposals being considered for this? Stardust will 
certainly contribute to our knowledge of comets and how they lose material, but 
it seems like meteoroid streams per se are otherwise completely ignored by space 
exploration programs! Anybody with a great idea who'd be willing to quit their 
job and write a grant proposal? :)

Clear skies,
Lew

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From: Ron Baalke <BAALKE@KELVIN.JPL.NASAdot gov>
Date: Fri, 20 Sep 1996 19:12:22 GMT
Subject: NASA Seeks Proposals For Fifth Discovery Mission

Douglas Isbell
Headquarters, Washington, DC                 September 20, 1996
(Phone: 202/358-1753)

RELEASE: 96-191

NASA SEEKS PROPOSALS FOR FIFTH DISCOVERY MISSION 

    The process of selecting the fifth flight in NASA's 
Discovery Program series of small, low-cost, highly focused 
planetary exploration missions has begun with the issuance of 
the formal Announcement of Opportunity by NASA's Office of 
Space Science, Washington, DC.

    Due for launch before the end of September 2002, the fifth 
Discovery mission must be developed and prepared for launch for 
less than $183 million (FY97 dollars), with mission operations 
and data analysis costs less than an additional $43 million. 

    "We're open to proposals that address any aspect of planetary
science," said Dr. Wesley Huntress, Associate Administrator for Space
Science at NASA Headquarters.  "We look forward to receiving a diverse 
group of mission concepts, in both cost and complexity."

    Based on past history, more than a dozen proposals from 
both domestic and international teams with members from 
industry, educational institutions, non-profit institutions, 
NASA centers and other government institutions can be expected, 
according to Ken Ledbetter, director of the Mission and Payload 
Development Division in the Office of Space Science.  If more 
than one mission can be accommodated within the stated budget, 
NASA will consider selecting more than one, he added.

    Feedback from the previous round of Discovery selections 
has led to a more streamlined process for picking this fifth 
mission.  First-round proposals are due by December 11.   A 
subset of these proposals will be selected for detailed 
feasibility studies to run from April through August 1997, with 
final selection of the winning proposal tentatively scheduled 
for late September 1997.

    One NASA Discovery mission, the Near Earth Asteroid 
Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft, was launched in February toward 
its planned orbital survey of the large asteroid Eros, 
beginning in January 1999.  The next Discovery mission, the 
Mars Pathfinder, is due for launch on December 2 toward a July 
1997 landing on the red planet, where it will photograph the 
surface, monitor the Martian climate and deploy a small surface rover.

The third Discovery mission, Lunar Prospector, was selected in 
February 1995.  Due for launch in October 1997, this small 
orbiter spacecraft is designed to map the chemical composition 
of the lunar surface and survey the Moon's global magnetic and 
gravity fields at a level of detail greater than that achieved 
by any previous mission.  The fourth Discovery mission, 
Stardust, originated from the same group of proposals and was 
formally selected in November 1995.  Following a February 1999 
launch, Stardust is designed to gather first-time samples of 
interstellar dust and dust spewed from the comet Wild-2 and 
return them to Earth in 2006 for detailed analysis.

    The complete text of the latest Discovery Announcement of 
Opportunity is available on the Internet at the following URL:

    http://www.hq.nasadot gov/office/oss/research.htm

                          -end-

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