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(meteorobs) Success- Here we come Pluto!

-This is a one time message, please forgive it, but SUCCESS is sweet! - 

From: Ted A. Nichols II - Campaign Manager
Save the Pluto-Kuiper Express Campaign
www.plutomission.com
 
For your information, and to help the press in writing an article covering 
all areas of the revival of the mission. 
 
Well I guess it's time for a victory speech, the press release is below.
 
If you are a member of the press, and would like an interview with me 
personally, please call 717-932-1783, after 4 PM ET.
 
I've been waiting to say this since the beginning!
 
Ever since the beginning of October, I've been involved in a monumental 
effort to give new life to a deferred program. However, my interest in Pluto 
and exploration has existed since I was a small child. My voyage has taken me 
to the far stretches of the world in the press, and in person to NASA 
Headquarters in Washington, DC. With word now given that the administration 
is seeking new proposals for a Pluto Mission to have a cost of under 500 
million, we have achieved victory. Who manages the project is up in the air. 
There's no guarantee NASA will select a proposal, but I feel certain they 
will. In reality, the Pluto Mission could be taken away from JPL if another 
proposal by say Lockheed Martin, Ball Aerospace, or some other firm is 
selected. I'm promised however, JPL will give its all to try and be selected 
as the ones to manage the Pluto Mission. There is a guarantee now that NASA 
now understands the worth and public interest of exploring Pluto, and has 
given it a higher priority, a priority which revives a "deferred" mission. 
We're very close to Christmas, and I don't think we could have been given a 
better Christmas present, in reality all of the world has won. While at NASA 
headquarters about a month ago, I met with many of the individuals who had a 
part in this decision, and I definitely detected optimism among them. With 
Pluto getting priority, I promise you that doesn't mean the end of the Europa 
Orbiter, maybe a delay of 2 or so years, or maybe no delay. With a good Pluto 
Mission, the Outer Planets Program, could see a lot more money come its way. 
Little did we know, if things would have continued the way they were, the 
Europa mission ultimately would have been delayed, without the resurfacing of 
a Pluto Mission. I'm very proud of our space agency today, stepping back into 
the frontier of true exploration, and reconnaissance. The Pluto mission will 
bring back the same emotions and feelings Pioneer, and Voyager did. The day 
the first picture comes back of Pluto, we will all have a great deal of 
pride, even if you aren't an American, you'll know you live in a world where 
we have given it our all to explore our backyard
 
What does this mean for the www.plutomission.com website? Well, let me be the 
first to say, the best is yet to come. I'll be developing some new t-shirts, 
and a more content filled website. The petition will move from being a "Save 
the Mission" to a "We Support the Mission" type petition. I also plan on 
making the site THE BEST site to come to for news happening on the Pluto 
front. Expect the MOST UP TO DATE news, when it happens, on the website.
 
People are already starting to ask me, do you feel you made an impact? I'm 
proud to say, I feel I have, and so has every person that signed my petition. 
My site was there to inform interested individuals, and gave means for them 
to express themselves in a petition which has received over 4000 signatures. 
I'm also proud to have been able to work with the Planetary Society and Lou 
Friedman, on this issue. The letters members of the Planetary Society 
received (over 10000), helped to show people want to go to Pluto. I hope Lou 
I'll be able to help Lou in the future. I'd also like to thank the 
ASTRONOMICAL LEAGUE for their support, and all the writers who wrote stories 
about the efforts to restore the mission. The Solar System Exploration 
Subcommittees letter to NASA headquarters stating there take on the whole 
issue also helped tremendously. I'd also like to thank the dedicated 
individuals within NASA, who strived to complete the reconnaissance of our 
solar system, and do so in an effort so we get the best science for our 
dollar. Pluto's atmosphere, need not worry, we'll be there to study you 
before you freeze!
 
If I've made any errors, please forgive me, I'm very excited.
 
I also plan of possibly attending the workshop to be held in February, I'll 
keep you all informed regarding that issue later.
 
Regards,
Ted A. Nichols II
Campaign Manager/Webmaster
www.plutomission.com
 
-Begin Press Release-
 
NASA SEEKS PROPOSALS FOR PLUTO MISSION;
PLANS TO RESTRUCTURE OUTER PLANET PROGRAM
 
      NASA announced today that the agency is seeking proposals
from principal investigators and institutions around the world
to develop the first mission to Pluto.
 
This Announcement of Opportunity marks the first time the
Office of Space Science has solicited proposals for a mission
to an outer planet, such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
and Pluto, to be selected on a competitive basis similar to the
agency's Discovery Program. That program features lower cost
highly focused missions with rapid development of the
scientific spacecraft. The proposals are due to NASA
Headquarters by March 19, 2001.
 
"Competition has worked quite well in other NASA space science
programs, and I expect that, through this approach, we will see
a number of creative ideas from innovative thinkers and
organizations that have not been able to participate in outer
planet exploration before," said Dr. Ed Weiler, Associate
Administrator for Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington,
DC.
 
"In the past decade a number of organizations outside NASA have
gained the expertise to successfully fly deep space missions,
and in the past few months we have heard the calls from many in
the scientific community in favor of open competition in our
outer planet program," Dr. Weiler added. "I think it's time to
try this new approach. We hope that opening these missions to
competition will greatly benefit science and space
exploration."
 
Dr. Colleen Hartman, currently the Deputy Director of the
research Division for the Office of Space Science, has been
selected as Outer Planets Program Director, and will be the
single point of contact at NASA Headquarters for budget,
content and policy direction.
 
The decision to solicit proposals comes three months after
unacceptably large cost increases on the Pluto/Kuiper Express
(PKE) mission led NASA to issue a stop-order on the project
Sept. 12 to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena,
CA. Dr. Weiler made the decision earlier this week to open the
Pluto mission to competition. The Europa Orbiter mission will
continue to be developed at JPL.
 
The Announcement of Opportunity will solicit proposals for
investigations that require the development of a complete
mission to the Pluto-Charon system and the Kuiper Belt beyond,
including expendable launch vehicle and spacecraft, its bus and
systems, and the science instrumentation package.
 
Following peer-review, NASA will select two or more of the top
proposals for more detailed study and will "downselect" the
winning proposal in August 2001.
 
There are no restrictions on the launch date but there is a
goal to reach Pluto by 2015. NASA will cap the cost of the
Pluto mission at $500 million in FY 2000 dollars.
 
NASA is sponsoring a two-and-a-half-day workshop for
scientists, engineers, technologists, and others from academia,
NASA centers, federal laboratories, the private sector, and
international partners to be held in early February. The
workshop will provide an open forum for presentation,
discussion, and consideration of various concepts, options, and
innovations associated with a strategy for Outer Planet
exploration to encourage new ideas, including use of in-space
propulsion, technical soundness, timeliness of science return,
and science merit.
 
The Pluto/Kuiper Express mission will be the first mission to
explore the Solar System's most distant planet and it's moon
Charon, and go on to study smaller icy bodies in the Kuiper
Belt, a vast region of space encircling the Sun beyond Pluto.
The PKE mission will study the composition of the planet's
surface and thin atmosphere.
 
The Europa Orbiter mission will probe the surface of Jupiter's
moon Europa to determine whether there is in fact a liquid
ocean beneath a deep icy crust. Recent evidence from NASA's
Galileo mission suggest there may be water under the ice,
perhaps at a distance of a few miles. If the existence of such
an ocean can be proven, and if there are organic materials and
a source of energy available under the surface, Europa could be
a prime location to look for signs of life on future missions.
 
The draft Announcement of Opportunity will be available after
Dec. 26 at:
 
          http://spacescience.nasadot gov/research.htm
 
                            - end
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