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

partnership with the Department of Energy in order to obtain the plutonium-238 needed for upcoming
planetary missions.
International collaboration is possible in many forms, and offers significant opportunities to
strengthen NASA’s solar system exploration program. Missions of Opportunity allow US investigators to
participate in missions flown by non-US space agencies, and should be pursued vigorously. The science
of Discovery and New Frontiers missions can be enhanced at modest instrument accommodation cost to
NASA by including instruments and investigators from other nations. As the capabilities of many
potential international partners around the world grow, these opportunities will multiply.
All three of the Flagship missions in the recommended program have the potential for substantial
international collaboration. EJSM would be done collaboratively with ESA, flying both the NASA
Jupiter Europa Orbiter and the ESA Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter. These coordinated missions are a good
example of a robust international partnership. There are no complex hardware interfaces between the two
major international components. Each mission can stand alone on its own scientific merits, but the two
conducted jointly can complement and enhance one another’s science return by making synergistic
observations. And each would carry an international payload, making the most capable scientific
instruments available to each, regardless of their nation of origin.
MAX-C is envisioned to be an international mission, with both the NASA sample collection
rover and the ESA ExoMars rover delivered by a NASA-provided derivative of the MSL EDL system.
Moreover, it is intended to be the first element of a three-mission Mars Sample Return campaign, with
ESA playing a significant role throughout the entire campaign. Unlike EJSM, the interfaces between
NASA and ESA elements of MAX-C (and, perhaps, the follow-on elements as well) are complex, and
will have to be managed with great care. As noted above, a particular concern for MAX-C is that an
attempt to accommodate two large and capable rovers as currently imagined would be likely to force a
costly redesign of the MSL EDL system. In order to keep NASA’s costs for MAX-C below the
recommended $2.5 billion (FY2015), significant reductions in mission scope, including major reductions
in landed mass and volume, are likely to be necessary. So while MAX-C offers an opportunity for
international collaboration, that collaboration must be managed carefully.
The Uranus Orbiter/Probe mission has not yet been discussed as an international collaboration,
but it offers significant potential. As one example, the instrument payload could be selected
internationally, strengthening the science while reducing costs to NASA.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. National Research Council, New Frontiers in the Solar System: An Integrated Exploration
Strategy, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2003.
2. National Research Council, Opening New Frontiers in Space: Choices for the Next New
Frontiers Announcement of Opportunity, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2008.
3. For a well documented case see, for example, Independent Comprehensive Review Panel,
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Independent Comprehensive Review Panel (ICRP): Final Report,
NASA, Washington, D.C., 29 October 2010. Available at http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/499224main_JWST-
ICRP_Report-FINAL.pdf.
4. National Research Council, An Assessment of Balance in NASA’s Science Programs, The
National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2006.
5. National Research Council, Decadal Science Strategy Surveys: Report of a Workshop, The
National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2007.
6. For a graphic example of the damage potential of cost growth see, for example, Table 3.1 of
National Research Council, Decadal Science Strategy Surveys: Report of a Workshop, The National
Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2007.
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