| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 654.1 | | 8713::TAVARES | John--Stay Low, Keep Moving! | Fri Sep 21 1990 11:40 | 14 |
| Nice idea. Missing from the report was any mention of satellites
to study the ozone layer/hole and to monitor global warming (if
it even exists).
Is this because these things could be studied better in other
ways? I would think that a satellite plunked right in the center
of the ozone hole for instance, could supply some excellent
scientific data as well as irrefutable proof of a serious
problem.
I wonder if there is anything that could be usefully studied by a
satellite or group of satellites in low orbit using an amateur
network of monitoring stations. Sort of like the tomato seed
experiment.
|
| 654.2 | | STAR::HUGHES | You knew the job was dangerous when you took it Fred. | Fri Sep 21 1990 11:54 | 5 |
| Probably because these things are already monitored by NOAA satellites.
Their LEO polar birds are in the best position to monitor polar ozone
levels (and the Soviet equivalents).
gary
|
| 654.3 | Neat Idea | CSS::BIRO | | Fri Sep 21 1990 13:57 | 11 |
| I will try an see if the TLM data/format and freq will be
made public, then we can monitor the scientific experiments.
This would be and excellent sciece project, even better the
the tommato seeds. An Amateur satellite has done simular
scientific experiments. UoSAT 1/2 had background radiation
counters etc but UoSAT 1 has decayed and UoSAT 2 was being
used more for Digical Communication Experiments
john
|
| 654.4 | Call for next generation of small explorers announced | PRAGMA::GRIFFIN | Dave Griffin | Wed Sep 09 1992 11:22 | 36 |
| HQ 92-144/SMEX AO
Paula Cleggett-Haleim
Headquarters, Washington, D.C. September 4, 1992
Dolores Beasley
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
RELEASE: 92-144
An announcement of opportunity inviting proposals for the next set of
Small Explorer (SMEX) missions has been sent to the scientific community.
The Small Explorer program provides frequent flight opportunities for
highly focussed and relatively inexpensive space science missions. These
missions allow critical training opportunities for the next generation of
scientists and engineers.
This series of small scientific missions can launch at a rate of about one
mission per year, depending on mission cost and the availability of funds.
NASA plans to develop only two or three missions which can be completed and
launched by 1997.
Proposals for future missions are due Dec. 18, 1992. The opportunity is
restricted to the scientific disciplines of astrophysics and space physics, but
is open to all categories of organizations, including educational institutions,
industry, nonprofit institutions, NASA field centers and other governmental
agencies, as well as foreign research institutions.
Total costs for development of missions, including the spacecraft and
excluding mission operations and analysis costs following the first 30 days in
orbit, are expected to average less than $35 million in FY 1992 dollars.
NASA's first Small Explorer, the Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric
Particle Explorer was launched July 3, 1992. Two other missions are currently
approved, the Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer, scheduled for launch in 1994, and
the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite, set for launch in 1995.
|
| 654.5 | NASA selects 11 Discovery Mission concepts for study | PRAGMA::GRIFFIN | Dave Griffin | Mon Feb 15 1993 09:58 | 169 |
| [I *think* they have renamed the program ... If so it's a bit confusing with
a shuttle having the same name.... -dg]
Donald L. Savage
Headquarters, Washington, D.C. February 11, 1993
RELEASE: 93-027
NASA today announced the selection of 11 new science mission concepts in
the Discovery Program which have been identified for further study during this
fiscal year.
The mission candidates were selected from 73 concepts discussed at the
Discovery Mission Workshop held at the San Juan Capistrano Research Institute
in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., last Nov. 16-20. The potential projects were
those considered to have the highest scientific value as well as a reasonable
chance of meeting strict budgetary guidelines.
Discovery missions are designed to proceed from development to flight in
less than 3 years, combining well-defined objectives, proven instruments and
flight systems, costs limited to no more than $150 million and acceptance of a
greater level of risk.
"These missions represent a bold new way of doing business at NASA," said
NASA Administrator Dan Goldin. "By accepting a greater level of risk, we can
deliver high-return missions that are cost-effective, quicker from concept to
launch, and responsive to the present budget climate. They promise to
revolutionize the way we carry out planetary science in the next century."
"The Discovery Program is probably the most exciting new initiative in
planetary exploration," said Dr. Wesley T. Huntress, Jr., Director of NASA's
Solar System Exploration Division.
"We now will be able to more effectively take advantage of emerging
technology and quickly - and relatively cheaply - undertake more new missions
of discovery than at anytime since the beginning of the space age. Also,
because of the shorter time frames and lower costs, these missions will allow
greater participation from the academic and aerospace communities," Huntress
said.
The 11 mission concepts to be studied are:
% Mercury Polar Flyby has an objective to study the polar caps and
complete the photographic reconnaissance of the planet. Principal
Investigator: Paul D. Spudis, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston.
% Hermes Global Orbiter to Mercury involves remote sensing of the
planet's surface, atmosphere and magnetosphere. Principal Investigator: Robert
Nelson, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
% Venus Multiprobe Mission involves placement of 14 small entry
probes over one hemisphere of Venus to measure winds, temperature and pressure.
Principal Investigator: Richard Goody, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
% Venus Composition Probe enters Venus' atmosphere in daylight to
measure atmospheric structure and composition on a parachute descent.
Principal Investigator: Larry W. Esposito, University of Colorado, Boulder.
% Cometary Coma Chemical Composition aims to rendezvous with a
cometary nucleus at or near perihelion and conduct 100 days of scientific
operations. Principal Investigator: Glenn C. Carle, NASA Ames Research Center,
Mountain View, Calif.
% Mars Upper Atmosphere Dynamics, Energetics and Evolution Mission
will study Mars' upper atmosphere and ionosphere. Principal Investigator:
Timothy Killeen, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
% Comet Nucleus Tour involves study of three comets during a 5-year
mission, focusing on structure and composition of the nucleus. Principal
Investigator: Joseph Veverka, Cornell University, Ithica, N.Y.
% Small Missions to Asteroids and Comets involves four separate
spacecraft launches to study distinctly different types of comets and
asteroids. Principal Investigator: Michael Belton, National Optical Astronomy
Observatories, Tuscon, Ariz.
% Near Earth Asteroid Returned Sample will acquire samples from six
sites on a near-Earth asteroid and return them to Earth for study. Principal
Investigator: Eugene Shoemaker, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz.
% Earth Orbital Ultraviolet Jovian Observer will study the Jovian
system from Earth orbit with a spectroscopic imaging telescope. Principal
Investigator: Paul Feldman, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.
% Solar Wind Sample Return mission aims at collecting and returning
solar wind material to Earth for analysis. Principal Investigator: Don
Burnett, Calif. Institute of Technology, Pasadena.
In addition, three concepts also were targeted for further consideration
this fiscal year. They are:
% Mainbelt Asteroid Rendezvous Explorer would rendezvous and orbit
the mainbelt asteroids Iris or Vesta. Principal Investigator: Joseph Veverka,
Cornell University, Ithica, N.Y.
% Comet Nucleus Penetrator would rendezvous with a comet and deploy a
penetrator into its nucleus. Principal Investigator: William V. Boynton,
University of Arizona, Tuscon.
% Mars Polar Pathfinder involves a lander which will carry out
subsurface exploration of the northern Martian polar cap by radar and a probe
to measure ice quantities and temperature. Principal Investigator: David A.
Paige, University of Calif. at Los Angeles.
"It was a difficult task narrowing the list down," said Dr. Richard Vorder
Bruegge, a member of the Discovery Advanced Study Review Group which made the
selections.
A formal competition to make final selections of the missions to be
conducted will be announced possibly next year.
"The formal selection process will be open to all interested parties.
Anyone will be able to submit a proposal for a Discovery mission in the formal
competition," said Vorder Bruegge. "These proposals will have to be more
extensive than the studies and include science rationale, spacecraft design,
observations, data systems -- a start-to-finish proposal for a new mission."
The 11 mission concepts selected follow the first two Discovery missions
selected for Phase A studies last year. They are the Mars Environmental Survey
(MESUR) Pathfinder, planned for launch in 1996, and the Near Earth Asteroid
Rendezvous (NEAR), planned for a 1998 launch.
Phase A studies of the MESUR Pathfinder mission was awarded to NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. (JPL). The Applied Physics Laboratory
of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. (APL), has been awarded Phase A
studies of the NEAR mission.
MESUR Pathfinder is envisioned as a technical demonstration and validation
flight for the MESUR program, scheduled to begin in 1999. The MESUR program
calls for building a network of about 16 small automated surface stations
widely scattered around Mars to study the planet's internal structure,
meteorology and local surface properties.
NEAR would spend up to a year station-keeping with a near- Earth asteroid.
The NEAR spacecraft, probably carrying only three instruments, would assess the
asteroid's mass, size, density and spin rate, map its surface topography and
composition, determine its internal properties and study its interaction with
the interplanetary environment.
"The study of planets provides other planetary examples against which to
compare our own Earth, in order to understand better how planet Earth works and
how it behaves," said Huntress. "The study of the solar system, and the
planetary bodies within it, also will help us to understand how our solar
system formed, how other solar systems might form around other stars, and
therefore lead us to answer whether or not there are other Earths and other
life in the universe.
"To understand the uniqueness of the Earth, we need to understand the
other rocky planets in the solar system -- Mercury, Venus and Mars. To find
clues to the origin and evolution of the solar system we need to examine and
return samples from the oldest and most primitive objects in the solar system
-- comets and asteroids," Huntress said.
The Discovery Program is managed by the Solar System Exploration Division
of the Office of Space Science and Applications, NASA Headquarters, Washington,
D.C.
Source:NASA Spacelink Modem:205-895-0028 Internet:192.149.89.61
|
| 654.6 | Why not email off and ask? | AUSSIE::GARSON | | Mon Feb 15 1993 20:24 | 7 |
| re .5
I don't think these two programs are the same. That's based on the budget
($35m for Explorer and $150m for Discovery) unless the difference is
explained by the lower figure excluding launch costs?
Even so it is confusing naming the latter Discovery.
|
| 654.7 | | CFSCTC::SBOATS::GERMAIN | He's the Iceman - a Hunter! | Thu Feb 18 1993 10:25 | 1 |
| HETE is an example of this short time, low cost idea
|
| 654.8 | HETE = ? | AUSSIE::GARSON | | Thu Feb 18 1993 20:25 | 0 |
| 654.9 | | CFSCTC::SBOATS::GERMAIN | He's the Iceman - a Hunter! | Mon Feb 22 1993 11:22 | 5 |
| High Energy Transient Experiment.
Attempt to do $10 million worth of satelite for $1 million. 4
transputers hooked up together on the satellite. Cooperative effort
done by a few groups around the world.
|
| 654.10 | NASA selects second set of Small Explorer missions | PRAGMA::GRIFFIN | Dave Griffin | Mon Sep 27 1993 18:50 | 74 |
| Paula Cleggett-Haleim
Headquarters, Washington, D.C. September 24, 1993
Randy Exler
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
RELEASE: 93-168
Dr. Wesley T. Huntress, Jr., NASA's Associate Administrator for Space
Science, today announced the selection of four candidate Small Explorer
Missions.
These missions propose investigations that will fill in significant gaps
in scientist's understanding of astrophysics, solar physics and cosmic-ray
physics.
The Small Explorer Program provides frequent flight opportunities for
highly focused and relatively inexpensive science missions. Small Explorer
spacecraft weigh approximately 500 lbs (227 kilograms). The costs for
developing the instrument and the spacecraft are expected to average $35
million. They will be launched by Pegasus, an expendable launch vehicle, owned
and operated by Orbital Sciences Corp., Loudon, Virginia, under contract to
NASA.
The four new candidate missions follow the first set of Small Explorer
missions which includes the Solar, Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle
Explorer (SAMPEX), the Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer (FAST) and Submillimeter
Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS).
SAMPEX was successfully launched in July, 1992. FAST will be launched in
August, 1994 and SWAS will be launched in June, 1995.
The selected mission candidates were chosen from 51 proposals. The newly
selected mission candidates are:
* The Joint Ultraviolet Night Sky Observer (JUNO). JUNO will perform a
photometric and spectroscopic survey of the sky in the far ultraviolet.
Professor Christopher Martin of Columbia University, New York City, is the
Principal Investigator with 12
Co-Investigators from U.S. and Italian institutions.
JUNO is planned as a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency
which will supply the spacecraft and a ground station for the mission.
* The Positron Electron Magnetic Spectrometer (POEMS). POEMS will precisely
measure the ratio of anti-electrons (positrons) to electrons among the cosmic
rays as a function of energy and time. Dr. Paul Evenson of the University of
Delaware, Bartol Research Institute, Newark, is the Principal Investigator. He
will head a team of 18 Co-Investigators from the U.S., France, Germany and
Finland.
* The Transitional Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE). TRACE will observe the
Sun to study the connection between it's magnetic fields and plasma structures.
Dr. Alan Title of the Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory, Calif., is the
Principal Investigator. He is joined by a Co-Investigator team of 13 American,
British, Swedish and Dutch scientists.
* The Wide-Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE). WIRE will study the evolution of
galaxies using cryogenically-cooled infrared detector arrays. WIRE is proposed
by Dr. Perry B. Hacking of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena,
Calif., with Co-Investigators from the California Institute of Technology,
Cornell University, Ball Aerospace Systems Group, and JPL.
The four proposed missions will enter a definition phase that will last 10
months. After that, NASA intends to confirm two missions for development and
flight. NASA plans to launch the confirmed missions in 1997 and 1998.
The Small Explorer Program is managed by the Astrophysics Division, Office
of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. Mission definition,
development, and launch are managed by the Small Explorer Project Office, NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
|
| 654.11 | TRACE, WIRE, SWAS, and FAST | MTWAIN::KLAES | No Guts, No Galaxy | Thu Sep 15 1994 13:42 | 88 |
| From: US3RMC::"[email protected]" "HILL, DIANNE" 15-SEP-1994 10:55:01.07
CC:
Subj: 94-152 NASA SELECTS TWO SMALL EXPLORER MISSIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT
Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, D.C
September 14, 1994
(Phone: 202/358-1547)
RELEASE: 94-152
NASA SELECTS TWO SMALL EXPLORER MISSIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT
Two new science missions to study the Sun and the evolution
of galaxies, both aboard small, relatively inexpensive spacecraft,
were unveiled today by Dr. Wesley T. Huntress, NASA Associate
Administrator for Space Science.
The first of the newly selected missions, the Transitional Region
and Coronal Explorer, or TRACE, will observe the Sun to study the
connection between its magnetic fields and the heating of the Sun's
corona. Dr. Alan Title of the Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory,
Calif., is the principal investigator. His team will include 13 other
scientists from the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the
Netherlands. TRACE is scheduled for launch in 1997.
The second spacecraft, the Wide-Field Infrared Explorer, or WIRE,
is scheduled for launch in 1998 on a mission to study the evolution of
galaxies. WIRE will use a cryogenically-cooled telescope and arrays
of highly sensitive infrared detectors for the studies. WIRE was
proposed by Dr. Perry B. Hacking of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif., with co-investigators from the California Institute
of Technology, Cornell University, Ball Aerospace Systems Group, and JPL.
The two newly announced missions are part of NASA's Small
Explorer (SMEX) Program, which provides frequent flight opportunities
for highly focused and relatively inexpensive science missions. Small
Explorer spacecraft weigh approximately 500 pounds (227 kilograms).
Each mission is expected to cost approximately $50 million for design,
development and operations through the first 30 days in orbit.
The missions will be launched by Pegasus, an expendable
launch vehicle owned and operated by Orbital Sciences Corp., Loudon,
Va., under contract to NASA. The TRACE and WIRE missions join three
other Small Explorer missions already in development or operation.
SAMPEX, the Solar, Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle
Explorer, was launched July 3, 1992 and has been successfully
investigating the composition of local interstellar matter and solar
material, and the transport of magnetospheric charged particles into
the Earth's atmosphere.
The Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite, or SWAS, is
scheduled for launch in June 1995 on a Pegasus rocket to be released
from an L-1011 at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight
Facility in Virginia. SWAS will for the first time directly measure
the amount of water and molecular oxygen in interstellar clouds. SWAS
also will measure carbon monoxide and atomic carbon, which are
believed to be major reservoirs of carbon in these clouds.
FAST, the Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer, is scheduled for
launch one month after SWAS, in July 1995, from Vandenberg Air Force
Base in Lompoc, Calif. FAST will probe the physical processes that
produce aurorae, the displays of light that appear in the upper
atmosphere at high latitudes.
Mission definition, development and launch of the Small
Explorer Program are managed by the Small Explorer Project Office,
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., for NASA's Office of
Space Science, Washington, D.C.
- end -
NASA press releases and other information are available automatically
by sending an Internet electronic mail message to [email protected].
In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type
the words "subscribe press-release" (no quotes). The system will
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Questions should be directed to (202) 358-4043.
% ====== Internet headers and postmarks (see DECWRL::GATEWAY.DOC) ======
% From: "HILL, DIANNE" <[email protected]>
% Subject: 94-152 NASA SELECTS TWO SMALL EXPLORER MISSIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT
% Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 07:56:00 PDT
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|
| 654.12 | FUSE restructuring | MTWAIN::KLAES | No Guts, No Galaxy | Mon Sep 19 1994 18:28 | 87 |
| From: US1RMC::"[email protected]" "HILL, DIANNE" 16-SEP-1994 20:01:07.17
CC:
Subj: 94-155 NASA BEGINS RESTRUCTURING EXPLORER PROGRAM AND FUSE MISSION
Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
September 16, 1994
(Phone: 202/358-1547)
RELEASE: 94-155
NASA BEGINS RESTRUCTURING EXPLORER PROGRAM AND FUSE MISSION
NASA's Explorer program and the Far Ultraviolet
Spectroscopic Explorer mission will be restructured to enable
funding for more frequent, smaller Explorer missions.
"As part of the restructuring effort, we made a difficult
decision not to fly the Far Ultraviolet Spectrocopic Explorer
(FUSE) mission as it is currently baselined, but to redesign it
and bring down its cost," Dr. Wesley T. Huntress Jr., NASA's
Associate Administrator of Space Science, said at a meeting of
the Space Science Advisory Committee held this week in Washington,
D.C. Huntress asked the committee to provide guidance and
suggestions to NASA on restructuring the Explorer program.
Huntress said the restructuring was due to a lack of funds
to start new Explorer missions before the year 2000, when FUSE
was to launch. In 1990, when two Delta-class Explorer missions
were approved for definition studies, including FUSE, the agency
anticipated a growing space science budget throughout this
decade, he said. The plans at that time called both for
relatively expensive high-priority missions such as FUSE and
other new missions to be started in the late 1990s.
The assumptions for a growing budget changed shortly
afterwards, however, and the agency now anticipates a relatively
flat space science budget for the foreseeable future. Several
space science missions underwent extensive restructuring efforts,
successfully bringing down costs while preserving critical
science. Huntress said the agency also would have to restructure
the Explorer program to meet the astrophysics and space physics
communities' desire for more frequent mission opportunities.
"By restructuring the Explorer program we can start a new
program of medium explorers (MIDEX) with a one-per-year flight
rate much sooner than we had planned, beginning with an
announcement of opportunity next year," Huntress continued. "The
tremendous amount of science we would gain with this approach by
flying more frequent missions makes a great deal of sense for the
entire space science program."
Over the next three months, the FUSE Principal
Investigator, Warren Moos of the Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, will review options to restructure FUSE from a
Delta-class mission into a smaller, less expensive MIDEX mission
and present a proposal to NASA.
The FUSE mission was designed to study the origin and
evolution of the lightest elements -- hydrogen and deuterium --
created shortly after the Big Bang, and the forces and processes
involved in the evolution of galaxies, stars and planetary
systems. The far ultraviolet region of the spectrum can
only be observed outside the Earth's atmosphere.
The Explorer program is managed by the Explorer Project
Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., for
the Office of Space Science in Washington, D.C.
- end -
NASA press releases and other information are available
automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to
[email protected]. In the body of the message (not the subject
line) users should type the words "subscribe press-release" (no
quotes). The system will reply with a confirmation via E-mail of
each subscription. A second automatic message will include
additional information on the service. Questions should be
directed to (202) 358-4043.
% ====== Internet headers and postmarks (see DECWRL::GATEWAY.DOC) ======
% From: "HILL, DIANNE" <[email protected]>
% Subject: 94-155 NASA BEGINS RESTRUCTURING EXPLORER PROGRAM AND FUSE MISSION
% Date: Fri, 16 Sep 94 16:01:00 PDT
% Sender: [email protected]
|