Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the - Solar System ...

TABLE 9.2 Discovery Program Mission Selections to Date
Year of AO Mission Selected Launch Date Description
Near Earth Asteroid
17 February 1996 Asteroid orbiter and rendezvous
n/a Rendezvous/Shoemaker
n/a Mars Pathfinder 4 December 1996 Mars lander and Sojourner rover
1994 Lunar Prospector 6 January 1998 Lunar orbiter
1994 Stardust 7 February 1999 Comet particle sample return
1996 Genesis 8 August 2001 Solar wind sample return.
Flyby of two comet nuclei (lost contact 6
1996 CONTOUR 3 July 2002 weeks after launch)
1998 MESSENGER 3 August 2004 Mercury orbiter
1998 Deep Impact 12 January 2005 Comet impactor and flyby
Orbit of two main-belt asteroids, Vesta &
2000 Dawn 27 September 2007 Ceres
Telescope for the detection of extrasolar
2000 Kepler 6 March 2009 planets
2004 No Selection
2006 GRAIL expected 2011 Twin lunar orbiters for gravity mapping
2010 TBD TBD TBD
Extended Missions for Ongoing Projects
Mission extensions can be significant and highly productive, and may also enhance missions that
undergo changes in scope due to unpredictable events or opportunities. The Cassini and Mars
Exploration Rover extensions are examples of the former, and the “re-purposing” of missions such as
Stardust (NExT) and Deep Impact (EPOXI) are examples of the latter. In some cases, particularly the repurposing
of operating spacecraft, fundamentally new science can be enabled. These mission extensions,
which require their own funding arrangements, can be treated as independent, small-class missions. The
committee supports NASA’s current Senior Review process for deciding the scientific merits of a
proposed mission extension. The committee recommends that early planning be done to provide
adequate funding of mission extensions, particularly for Flagship missions and missions with
international partners.
Missions of Opportunity
Near the end of the last decade, NASA introduced a new acquisition vehicle called ‘Stand Alone
Missions of Opportunity” (SALMON). This umbrella announcement allows for five different types of
“Missions of Opportunity”:
1. Investigations involving participation in non-NASA space missions by providing a critical
component of the mission, such as a science instrument, technology demonstrations, hardware
components, microgravity research experiments, or expertise in critical areas of the mission;
PREPUBLICATION COPY—SUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION
9-9