Conference 7.286::space

From: [email protected] (Ron Baalke)
Date: 31 Oct 90 19:48:53 GMT
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.

Space News -- Week of Oct. 29 - Nov. 4
"Key CRAF Components Face Cancellation"
By Douglas Isbell
 
"NASA's planned Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF)
mission has encountered serious cost growth problems,
forcing agency managers to confront a decision this week
between canceling a unique penetrator on the spacecraft aimed
at probing a comet's surface or dropping five of 12 other science
instruments."
 
The Space News story says that despite strong support for the
science program, several problems in the past year have
combined to create a severe budget crunch for the CRAF
project including a shortfall on the work being performed by
the German space agency of some $30 million and an excess
charge from the Department of Energy of $10 million.
 
In addition to the programmatic cost increases, Space News
reports that the penetrator itself has been estimated to be on the
order of $120 million -- much higher than NASA was
anticipating, according to the paper.
 
According to the report, the solution to the cost problems lies
with NASA's science chief, Lennard Fisk, who is expected to
announce what cuts will be made sometime this week.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | [email protected]
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | [email protected]
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |

From: [email protected] (Ron Baalke)
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro
Subject: CRAF Update - 11/29/90
Date: 30 Nov 90 03:09:52 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.
  
                        CRAF Status Report
                        November 29, 1990
 
     Two scientific instruments were dropped from the CRAF mission 
in order to reduce the cost of the mission.  The two instruments
eliminated were the penetrator and a scanning electron microscope. 
The cost of the penetrator ranged from $35 million to $120 million,
depending on its complexity.  The scanning electron microscope was
estimated to cost around $20 million.  The total science budget for
the CRAF/Cassini has a cap of $363 million, and due to the rising
costs of several elements in the joint missions, it was decided to
drop the two science instruments from the CRAF mission.  The
penetrator was to have been used to penetrate the comet Kopff and
sample the surface materials coming off the comet.  The scanning
electron microscope would have studied cometary debris captured by 
the CRAF spacecraft. 

      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | [email protected]
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | [email protected]
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |

From: [email protected] (Anita Cochran)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: CRAF cuts
Date: 30 Nov 90 18:35:56 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin; Austin, Texas
 
    In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Earl W Phillips) writes: 

> Too bad about losing the penetrator on the CRAF. I believe
> that that one scientific instrument would've given us as
> much information as the entire fly-by itself. The potential
> of ongoing data from this instrument was enormous. Sometimes
> certain decisions really make me wonder at the logic of
> the decision maker(s). Surely there would've been something
> else that could've been thunk up to save it.......? 
> 
> -EP-
 
    While it is certainly true that the penetrator would give us a
more fundamental sampling about the nucleus than any of the other
instruments, I don't think it is fair to say that it would give us
more knowledge than the rest of the mission.  That is because the
penetrator lifetime, from the time of separation from the main
spacecraft, was only 9 days.  The reason it was so short was the
limited lifetime of the batteries on it.  Thus, the penetrator would
only sample one very limited phase of the activity. 
 
    I am not condoning the removal of the penetrator, per se.  I was
actually on a National Research Council Advisory panel which
recommended keeping the penetrator.  However, we did not recommend
keeping it at all costs to the mission and that would have been what
happened.  I was surprised at Ron's values of cost of $37M-120M
because I don't believe anyone thinks it could be built in ANY
incarnation for <$55M (well, maybe the PI does but he actually wasn't
even saying that). The mission, combined with Cassini, is cost-capped
at $1.6B and Cassini has the priority. 
 
    NASA made the decision that the penetrator would eat up too much
of the monetary resources of the mission.  You might disagree with the
cost-cap but that is political reality.  So the decision was made to
delete the penetrator (official NASA term is "deselect") and the
Scanning Electron Microscope and Particle Analyzer (SEMPA) and keep
the rest of the mission in tact.  It is still a VERY capable mission
but the sampling will be a little less direct than with the penetrator.  
However, it will not just be a snapshot but a continuous monitoring 
from ~aphelion through perihelion. It is a good mission still. 
 
    One plan which is being discussed is about 100 days
post-perihelion (around end-of-mission) to do a real close pass of the
nucleus (of order 500m) and sample.  This should be quite interesting.
Unfortunately, at this stage in the design, a landing is not possible
since we are too close to launch to build the appropriate spacecraft
protection.  
-- 
Anita Cochran   arpa:  [email protected]  
                       [email protected]  
                snail: Astronomy Dept., The Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX, 78712
                at&t:  (512) 471-1471

Article        33819
From: [email protected] (David Anderman)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: CRAF/Cassini
Date: 27 Jul 91 17:16:32 GMT
Organization: Universal Electronics Inc. (Public access BBS)
  
                       High Noon for CRAF/Cassini

        The U.S. Senate recently voted to cancel the CRAF spacecraft,
as well as delay most funding for the Cassini spacecraft. The House of
Representatives also voted recently to drastically reduce funding for
both these programs, under the Chapman/Lowery amendment to the NASA
Appropriation. 

        What are CRAF/Cassini? During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the
United States was the leader in interplanetary exploration, with the
Mariner series of spacecraft as the flagship in this effort. Mariner 2
was the first spacecraft to visit the planet Venus; Mariner 4 was the
first to reach Mars; Mariner 10 was first to Mercury, and the Viking
orbiter spacecraft was a derivation of the Mariner spacecraft (the
Viking lander was the first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars).
The Voyager spacecraft, which successfully explored Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, and recently, Neptune were also Mariner spacecraft. 

        The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, located in Pasadena, is
upgrading the venerable Mariner design to more current standards (the
new spacecraft will be called Mariner Mark II). The first two proposed
missions for the new Mariner are CRAF (Comet Rendezvous/Asteroid
Flyby) and Cassini, which will orbit the planet Saturn and drop a
probe on the moon Titan. These two missions are the core of the United
States interplanetary exploration program for the next fifteen years.
The imminent cancellation or reduction of funds for the two programs
may lead to other nations (specifically the Soviets, Japanese or
Europeans) taking, for the first time, leadership in planetary
exploration, and may seriously affect the ability of the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory to maintain its ability to conduct future
planetary missions. 

        During late September, members of the House and Senate will
meet to wring out the final details of the upcoming budget. The last
opportunity to convince Congress to restore funding for CRAF/Cassini
will occur during August and September. Therefore, September 7, 1991
has been declared as the day to save CRAF/Cassini. On that day, at 12
noon, space activists will gather in front of selected Congressional
offices to declare their support for planetary exploration. If you
would like to participate in, or help organize such a public meeting,
please leave me a message here, or write to: San Diego L5, P.O. Box
4636, San Diego, CA 92164. The future of space exploration may depend
on your helping to save CRAF/Cassini on September 7.  
--  
David Anderman
Internet: [email protected]
Compuserve: >internet:[email protected]

Article        33942
From: [email protected] (David Anderman)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: CRAF/Cassini update
Date: 30 Jul 91 14:11:24 GMT
Organization: Universal Electronics Inc. (Public access BBS)
 
The Coalition to Save CRAF/Cassini has announced locations for
upcoming rallies in support of the CRAF and Cassini spacecraft.  This
list is incomplete, and will be updated pending new rally sites being
selected.  All events will take place on September 7, 1991 at 12 noon: 
 
Los Angeles: Federal Building, 300 N. Los Angeles Street.
 
San Diego: Federal Building, 880 Front Street.
 
CRAF and Cassini are interplanetary spacecraft, to be constructed by
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, as part of the highly
successfully Mariner spacecraft series.  The possible cancellation of
these programs could mean the end of the US planetary exploration
program.  The Coalition to Save CRAF/Cassini is planning for space
activists around California (and beyond) to stage rallies in support
of CRAF/Cassini before the House-Senate Budget Conference in
mid-September. 

This is an excellent opportunity for space activists to stop *talking* 
about supporting space exploration, and to actually *do* something to 
keep the planetary exploration program alive.
 
For more information, please leave a message here, or contact: David 
Anderman, San Diego L5, P.O. Box 4636, San Diego, CA 92164, (619) 
295-3690.
 
I would like to thank all of you who responded so favorably to the 
initial message about the CRAF/Cassini rally. 
--  
David Anderman
Internet: [email protected]
Compuserve: >internet:[email protected]

Article          178
From: [email protected] (David Anderman)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.space
Subject: CRAF/Cassini rally update #3
Date: 13 Aug 91 05:44:14 GMT
Organization: Universal Electronics Inc. (Public access BBS)
 
            CRAF/Cassini Meeting Set for San Diego area
-
San Diego L5 announced today that on August 17th, 1991 (Saturday) at
7pm, an organizational meeting for the "High Noon for CRAF/Cassini"
rally will be held at 6452 Cardeno Drive, La Jolla (San Diego). The
August 17th meeting will serve as a focal point to allow rally
organizers to maximize their efforts to make the September 7 rally
successful. Anyone interested in helping to organize the CRAF/Cassini
event is welcome to attend the August 17 planning session. 
-
San Diego L5 plans to stage a rally in support of the CRAF and Cassini
planetary spacecraft on Saturday, September 7th at 12 noon at the
Federal Building, located at 880 Front Street, in downtown San Diego.
A similar rally will be held the same day at the Los Angeles Federal
Building, located at 300 N. Los Angeles Street. 
-
CRAF and Cassini are interplanetary spacecraft, to be constructed by
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, as part of the highly
successfully Mariner spacecraft series. The possible cancellation of
these programs could mean the end of the US planetary exploration
program. San Diego L5 is hoping for space activists around California
(and beyond) to stage rallies in support of CRAF/Cassini before the
House-Senate Budget Conference in mid-September. 
-
For more information, please leave a message here, or contact: David 
Anderman, San Diego L5, P.O. Box 4636, San Diego, CA 92164 (619) 
295-3690, or (714) 524-1674.
 
Oh yes: the August 17th meeting will be catered by Domino's Pizza.
Bring your coupons! 
--  
David Anderman
Internet: [email protected]
Compuserve: >internet:[email protected]

Article        35526
From: [email protected] (David Anderman)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Space rallies
Date: 12 Sep 91 04:26:35 GMT
Organization: Universal Electronics Inc. (Public access BBS)
 
              CRAF Cassini Rallies a Success (Hopefully)
 
Almost 100 space activists gathered in front of congressional offices
in Los Angeles and San Diego to demand full funding for the CRAF and
Cassini planetary exploration programs on Saturday, September 7. "High
Noon for CRAF/Cassini" was the theme of the events, which were
sponsored by OASIS and San Diego L5, southern California chapters of
the National Space Society. 

CRAF and Cassini are interplanetary spacecraft, to be constructed by
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, as part of the highly
successfully Mariner spacecraft series. The possible cancellation of
these programs could mean the end of the US planetary exploration
program. San Diego L5 and OASIS are hoping for space activists around
the country to show support for CRAF/Cassini before the House-Senate
Budget Conference in early October. 

"Don't be a weenie - vote for CRAF/Cassini" was the slogan on one
placard seen at the Los Angeles rally. 

For more information about the effort to save these programs, please
contact David Anderman at 714/524-1674 or 619/295-3690, or Craig Ward
at (213) 372-0105, or please leave a message here. 
--  
David Anderman
Internet: [email protected]
Compuserve: >internet:[email protected]

Article        17232
From: [email protected] (Ron Baalke)
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space
Subject: Re: CRAF killed! Any help possible?
Date: 30 Sep 91 19:31:00 GMT
Sender: [email protected] (Usenet)
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
 
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Daniel Fischer) writes... 

>Quoting from the American Physical Society 'What's New' bulletin of 27 Sept.:
> 
>3. CONGRESS FULLY FUNDS $PACE $TATION--SPACE SCIENCE AND NSF PAY!
>House conferees played dead yesterday as Senator Mikulski (D-MD)
>opposed any tampering with the President's $2.25B request for the
>space station. A move by Bill Green (R-NY) to shift $65M to space
>science programs was brushed aside.  CRAF, Comet Rendezvous and
>Asteroid Flyby, was terminated (Mikulski notes that comets always
>come back anyway); CASSINI, the mission to Saturn, was delayed a
>year; and EOS lost another $15M...
> 
>So, CRAF's gone forever? Or is there a chance it could come back?
 
This was announced by John Casani, project manager for the
CRAF/Cassini project, during yesterday's 1st annual CRAF/Cassini
picnic: the CRAF mission has *not* been cancelled by Congress. 
However, the launch dates for both missions have been delayed to 1997.

      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | [email protected]
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 301-355 Telos  | For every rule, there is 
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | an exception. There is no
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | exception to this rule.

Article: 36969
From: [email protected] (David Anderman)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: CRAF petition drive
Date: 31 Oct 91 15:23:04 GMT
Organization: Universal Electronics Inc. (Public access BBS)
 
                  CRAF Comet/Asteroid Mission Saved!!?
 
In an unexpected development, the House/Senate Budget Conference
committee declined to cancel the Comet Rendezvous/Asteroid Flyby
(CRAF) mission.  CRAF, and its sister program Cassini, were the objects
of the "High Noon for CRAF/Cassini" rallies held in Los Angeles and
San Diego on September 7 of this year. 
 
CRAF is currently scheduled for launch in 1996, aboard a "souped up"
Titan IV/Centaur rocket.  The Titan IV booster will be produced by
Martin-Marietta, and the Centaur by General Dynamics in San Diego.
The CRAF spacecraft will be built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
located in Pasadena, California.  CRAF will be the first detailed study
of both an asteroid and a comet. 
 
Although CRAF is technically still alive, there is insufficient
funding in the NASA budget for both CRAF and Cassini.  The latter is 
a Saturn Orbiter/Titan lander which is stronger politically due to
European Space Agency participation in design and construction of the
spacecraft. 
 
The Ad Hoc Committee to Save CRAF and Cassini, which organized the
September rallies, plans to ensure the continuation of the CRAF
program by mounting a petition campaign to garner sufficient
signatures to convince both the Congress and the National Space
Council to appropriate sufficient funding for both CRAF and Cassini.
Several planning sessions for the petition drive are currently
scheduled for November: 
 
November 2, 7:30 pm: 20134 Leadwell Street, #102, Canoga Park, CA (213) 
640-8450.
November 8, 7pm: 4125 Sequoia, Riverside, CA (714) 689-3306
November 16, 7pm: 3050 Avenida Christina, La Costa (Carlsbad), CA (619) 
295-3690.
 
The general public is encouraged to attend these meetings. For more
information, please contact David Anderman at 619/295-3690 or 714/524-1674.
--  
David Anderman
Internet: [email protected]
Compuserve: >internet:[email protected]
 

Article: 38700
From: [email protected] (David Seal)
Newsgroups: sci.space,jpl.spacecraft
Subject: Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby proposed mission specs
Date: 17 Dec 91 19:20:39 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
 
Well, it seems I AM allowed to publish CRAF's new "Proposed Primary
Mission" information; the flight projects office here at JPL has
released a copy of the new orbit, so I can as well. 
 
The new mission has gotten a lot of us pretty excited because of the
high science return.  There are two flybys of large asteroids, Thisbe
and Fortuna, with strong possibilities for a third (perhaps Tamariwa).
The spacecraft will use a MEEGA gravity assist (as opposed to VEEGAs)
trajectory which raises the perihelions to above 0.85.  The U.S. 
Independence Day (oh, P.R.!) flyby of Mars is nearly along its
ecliptic plane, so we anticipate a Deimos flyby as well.  The arrival
date at Kopff (for the two asteroids only) is currently 1,215 days
before the comet's perihelion. 
 
Asteroids:

19 Fortuna "Goddess of Fortune" was discovered on August 22, 1852 by
J.R. Hind.  It has a mean radius of ~100 kilometers and a rotation
rate of once every 7.45 hours.  Fortuna is a G-type asteroid, a low
albedo C type with strong UV absorption features thought to be correlated 
with the presence of water of hydration.  Radar observations of this 
asteroid in October of 1982 indicate a very low polarization ratio 
which imply that Fortuna is smooth at scales of 1cm to 1m. 
 
88 Thisbe (from the Babylonian legend, not the subsequent
Shakespearean role in "A Midsummer Night's Dream") was discovered in
1866 by C. H. F. Peters.  Its radius is about 116 kilometers, rotation
rate once every 6.04 hours, and is a CF class body.  Both CF and G are
subclasses of C; CF asteroids are low-albedo bodies with little or no
UV absorption features.  There is no radar data on Thisbe. 
 
CRAF General:

With the Cassini spacecraft, CRAF is the first of a series of Mariner
Mark II missions built jointly by the US, Federal Republic of Germany
and Italy.  With a launch scheduled in April of 1997 aboard a Titan
IV, the mission will study the chemical, physical and geological
states of the cometary nucleus; sample dust, gases, and plasma in the
coma and tail; and gather information about tail formation and the
comet's interaction with radiation and solar wind.  The objectives of
the asteroid flybys are to characterize their size, shape, and surface
topography; determine their surface compositino; and measure the mass,
density and nearby environment.  (Each asteroid flyby is designed at
80 radii, chosen to minimize the chance of impacting large debris but
still intersect the asteroid's environment.  Galileo intentionally
avoided all contact with this asteroid dust/gas environment.) 
 
CRAF orbit dates are as follows:

04/09/97  Launch
07/04/98  Mars Flyby (alt 1805km, v=8.25 km/s)
07/18/00  Earth Flyby 1 (alt. 4208km, v=9.11 km/s)
06/07/01  Thisbe Flyby (alt. 8480km, v=5.2 km/s)
10/25/02  Fortuna Flyby (alt. 8000km, v=12.57 km/s)
07/18/03  Earth Flyby 2 (alt. 1176km, v=9.27 km/s)
01/26/06  Rendezvous Kopff
05/25/09  Perihelion
09/30/09  End of Mission
 
I will be sure to post the press release I wrote when it gets
released.  Steve Williams and Don Yeomans provided a lot of this. 
 
Regards, 
d
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Seal                 |  Jet Propulsion Laboratory  |     sunset: 4:46pm
[email protected] |       Mission Design        |   temp: 63 degrees

Article: 6
From: [email protected] (Ron Baalke)
Newsgroups: sci.space.news
Subject: CRAF/Cassini Update - 12/17/91
Date: 18 Dec 91 10:19:55 GMT
Sender: [email protected] (Usenet)
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
 
                          CRAF/Cassini Status Report
                              December 17, 1991
 
     Most of the information here was obtained from my notes on a JPL
lecture given by Ron Draper, CRAF/Cassini Deputy Project Manager, on
December 6, 1991, and from a CRAF/Cassini symposium help on November
1990 at JPL.  Also, thanks to David Seal for verifying the CRAF dates
for me. 
 
MARINER MARK II SPACECRAFT
 
     The CRAF/Cassini missions will be the first to use the next generation
spacecraft using the Mariner Mark II design.  Also briefly mentioned was that
the a Pluto and Neptune missions may also use the Mariner Mark II design.
The Pluto mission would be a flyby of Pluto, and the spacecraft would carry a
daughter spacecraft which will separate from the main spacecraft and lag behind
so that both sides of Pluto can be imaged.  The Neptune mission would be an
orbiter mission which includes a probe that will parachute into the atmosphere
of Neptune.  The current estimates for the lengths of the mission is 18 years
for Pluto, and 25 years for Neptune.
 
     The Mariner Mark II spacecraft is a 3-axis stabilized spacecraft.  It
is 7 meters in height and 4 meter in diameter.  The propellant load of the
spacecraft is 4300 kg.  The size of the propellant tank is mainly determined
by the needs of the CRAF mission.  Cassini will use the same size tank, but
will not be completely filled with fuel.  Similarly, the same size HGA (High
Gain Antenna) will be used even though a smaller one would suffice for CRAF.
The HGA is a little larger than Voyager's HGA, and unlike Galileo's HGA, is
a hard fixed structure.  Each spacecraft will carry 3 RTGs.  Four of the RTGs
will be brand new, and the other two RTGs that will be used are leftover from
the Galileo and Ulysses missions.  The Mariner Mark II spacecraft is an
international effort, with cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA)
the German space agency (DARA), and the Italian space agency.
 
     The current payload, power and mass estimates for the CRAF/Cassini
spacecraft is as follows:
 
        CRAF
          payload:     236 kg
          power:       176 W
          mass (dry): 2060 kg
 
        Cassini
          payload:     290 kg
          power:       223 W
          mass (dry): 2175 kg
 
     One interesting note is that the spacecrafts may use gyroscopes that
have no moving parts.  These gyroscopes are called Fiberoptics Rotation
Sensors (FORS), and consist of a drum with 2 coils of fiberoptic light and
a light sensor.
 
CRAF MISSION
 
     The CRAF spacecraft (Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby) will rendezvous with
the Comet Kopff and fly alongside the comet for at least three years.  It will
take a MEEGA (Mars-Earth-Earth gravity assist) trajectory for CRAF to get the
Kopff, which includes two Earth flybys and the first ever Mars gravity assist.
On the way to the Comet Kopff, CRAF will have flyby opportunities of the
following asteroids: Thisbe, Fortuna and Tamariwa.  When CRAF reaches Kopff,
it will go into orbit around the comet.  As the comet moves closer to the sun
and becomes more active, CRAF will leave its fixed orbit and start moving in
and out of the comet's tail, collecting dust along the way.  The dust will be
analyzed for elemental, chemical and molecular properties.  Near the end of
its mission, CRAF will be softly crash landed onto the comet.
 
          KEY SCHEDULED DATES FOR THE CRAF MISSION
                   MEEGA TRAJECTORY
          ----------------------------------------
          04/09/97 - Titan 4/Centaur Launch
          07/04/98 - Mars Flyby
          07/18/00 - 1st Earth Flyby
          06/07/01 - Asteroid Thisbe Flyby
          05/05/02 - Deep Space Maneuver
          10/25/02 - Asteroid Fortuna Flyby
          07/18/03 - 2nd Earth Flyby
          03/07/04 - Asteroid Tamariwa Flyby
          04/12/04 - Deep Space Maneuver
          01/26/06 - Comet Kopff Rendezvous
          05/25/09 - Perihelion
          09/30/09 - End of Mission
 
CASSINI MISSION
 
     The Cassini spacecraft will go into orbit around Saturn, using gravity
assists from Venus, Earth and Jupiter.  A probe, Huygens, will be dropped off
at Saturn's largest moon, Titan.  A flyby of Asteroid 1987 SJ7 is possible.
Cassini will be launched either 10/13/96 or 10/13/97.
 
     When Cassini arrives at Saturn in 2004, it will perform a SOI (Saturn
Orbit Insertion) burn.  The spacecraft will actually pass through the outer
rings of Saturn during SOI, passing between the F and G rings at a distance of
2.67 Saturn radii from the planet.  After SOI, the Huygens probe will be
released on the subsequent orbit.  Two days after probe release, the Cassini
orbiter will perform a deflection maneuver.  This deflection maneuver serves
two purposes: it ensures the Cassini orbiter does not follow the Huygens probe
into Titan, and it positions the orbiter to lag behind the probe about 3.5
hours so that science data can be received from the Huygens probe as it
descends into the atmosphere of Titan.  It will take the Huygens probe about
3 hours to parachute all the way down to the surface of Titan.  If the probe
survives the landing, valuable data will continue to be transmitted back for
about 30 more minutes.  No more data will be returned to the Cassini orbiter
from Huygens on any subsequent orbits, as the battery onboard Huygens will
have rundown by then.
 
    During its four year orbital tour of Saturn, Cassini will make 60 orbits
of the planet.  Compare this with Galileo, which will make about 10 orbits
around Jupiter in two years.  Galileo has the luxury of using gravity assists
of the four large Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto).  At
Saturn there is only one large moon, Titan, that Cassini can take advantage of
for gravity assists.  Because of this, Cassini will make close flybys of Titan
on at least 30 of the 60 orbits.  Each Titan flyby is designed so that the
Cassini will be deflected a little further out of Saturn's ecliptic plane, so
that at the end of four years, the spacecraft will be in polar orbit around
Saturn at an inclination of 84 degrees.  A polar orbit puts Cassini into a
unique advantage point where many star occultations can be observed through
Saturn's rings.  Cassini will be carrying a Titan Radar Mapper which it will
used to see through the dense atmosphere and map the surface of Titan during
its numerous flybys of the moon.  The Titan Radar Mapper is a SAR (Synthetic
Aperture Radar), similar to the one used by the Magellan spacecraft at Venus.
 
          KEY SCHEDULED DATES FOR THE CASSINI MISSION
                  EVVEJGA or VVEJGA TRAJECTORY
          -------------------------------------------
          10/13/96 - 1st Launch Opportunity
          10/13/97 - 2nd Launch Opportunity or Earth Flyby
          04/25/98 - 1st Venus Flyby
          12/07/98 - Deep Space Maneuver
          06/23/99 - 2nd Venus Flyby
          08/18/99 - Earth Flyby
          12/12/99 - Enters Asteroid Belt
          ??/??/?? - Asteroid 1987 SJ4 Flyby?
          04/10/00 - Exits Asteroid Belt
          01/03/01 - Jupiter Flyby
          06/25/04 - Saturn Orbit Insertion
          09/01/04 - Periapse Raised
          11/11/04 - Huygens Probe into Titan
          06/30/08 - End of Mission

     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | [email protected]
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | There's no limit to what
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | can be done if it doesn't
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | matter who gets the credit.

Date: 29 Jan 92 21:28:33 GMT
From: (Ron Baalke)
Subject: CRAF Cancelled, Magellan to be Terminated

In case you haven't heard, President Bush's new proposed budget, which
was released today, did not include any funding for the CRAF mission. 
Also not included was funding for Magellan's mapping cycle 4, which
means that the Magellan mission will be terminated this coming September. 

     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | [email protected]
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | Don't wait for your ship
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | to come in, paddle out to
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | it.

From:	DECWRL::"[email protected]"  5-FEB-1992 
        19:26:55.22
To:	[email protected]
Subj:	CRAF/Magellan Cuts Affects JPL Staffing

Forwarded from:
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109.  TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                        February 5, 1992

CRAF/Magellan Cuts Affects JPL Staffing

     Confronting federal-budget-driven reductions in two of its
planetary exploration projects, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
will take special action to absorb affected scientists, engineers and
other employees in other projects, JPL Director Dr. Edward C. Stone
said today. 

     Termination of the Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) project
in Fiscal Year 1992 and the Magellan mission in 1993, "will require a
reduction of 100 to 150 positions from these projects by the end of
FY92," he stated. 

     The Laboratory will limit the hiring of new employees compared
with what had been planned and JPL's Personnel Development Committee
will "focus its attention on individuals becoming available from CRAF
and Magellan," working to match them with current and forthcoming
openings, Dr. Stone said. 

     Dr. Stone also pointed out that mission operations personnel from
Magellan are expected to be needed on other flight projects.  Finally,
he added that project-specific orientation and retraining may be
provided to achieve the phased redeployment. 

     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | [email protected]
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | Don't wait for your ship
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | to come in, paddle out to
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | it.

Article: 40410
From: [email protected] (Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: An idea on saving CRAF...
Date: 16 Feb 92 02:07:41 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: Fermi National Accelerator Lab
 
In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Phil G.
Fraering) writes: 

> I recently had an idea about CRAF and its annual cancellation:
 
Phil, your article reads like an account of the CRAF project distorted
in a funhouse mirror.   I infer that you're not aware of some of its
history (and heaven knows I'm no expert).
 
Here are the events I know about:
 
1983-- Solar System Exploration Committee releases report recommending
a steady program of planetary probes within a constant budget of about
$100 million annually.  This program includes cheap simple probes, the
Planetary Observer series, and bigger expensive probes (but cheaper
than Galileo), the Mariner Mark II probes.  Each series would employ
a common line of spacecraft bus and other components to keep costs
down.  The first two Mariner Mark II missions are a comet rendezvous
(soon to become CRAF) and a Saturn orbiter/Titan atmosphere probe
(later named Cassini).
 
Summer 1985--  NASA attempts to put the Comet Rendezvous and Asteroid
Flyby (CRAF) new start into the FY1986 budget.  No dice.
 
Fall 1985-- Higgins testifies to National Commission on Space about
the need for small-body exploration, complaining about the CRAF
cancellation.  I just thought I'd throw this in.  (-:
 
1986, 1987, 1988, 1989-- CRAF and Cassini fail to get started as other
NASA space science projects take priority.  In general no more than
one new start per year is allowed.  SSEC advice to have a steadily
funded program is ignored, only one Observer is funded and it is more
complex and expensive than envisioned, costs creep up on the Mariner
Mark IIs.
 
Fall 1990 (do I have the year right?)-- Cassini and CRAF are glued
together in one big new start for planetary science, and at last are
approved in the FY1991 budget.  A deal with Congress is struck which
says that if the Cassini/CRAF combination exceeds its budget limit,
CRAF will get the ax.  Work begins in earnest on the two missions. 
German government agrees to provide hefty propulsion module CRAF will
need to match speeds with the comet.  
 
1991-- Penetrators, which would have plunged into comet nucleus to
provide in-situ measurements, are canceled to keep CRAF costs down. 
(I wanted to say "penetrators are dropped" but that would give the
wrong impression. (-: )
 
January 1992-- White House releases FY1993 budget proposal cancelling
CRAF (and suspending Magellan operations after its Cycle 3).  NASA
tells Germany to cancel work on CRAF's propulsion stage.  NASA orders
JPL and contractors to wind down work on CRAF.  It is strongly rumored
that cancellation of Cassini is imminent.
 
All of the above is from memory;  I welcome correction or elucidation
from anybody with better information. 
 
Now to look at Phil's essay:
 
> every year the politicians threaten to cancel it, the scientists
> (and their friends) make noise, and they decide on a compromise,
 
This really hasn't happened many times, as the project hasn't been
funded very long (except as a low-level paper mission).
 
> Now as a cost-cutting measure "they" want
> to cut CRAF completely, which is going to save money the same way
> all this nickle-and-dime bs has saved money with the B-2. 
 
This passage suggests the SSEC's notion of spacecraft series with high
commonality.
 
> Anyway, when negotiating with politicians, it is always advisable
> if you want to have half a loaf to ask for two. [...] 
> Instead of just asking for CRAF, we need to ask for a fleet of CRAF's.
 
This is reminiscent of the CRAF/Cassini combination, getting both
authorized when it was very hard to get either one authorized alone.
 
> Another way to enhance CRAF's political survival would be to start
> aggresively pushing technology. [...]
> in the halls of the Capitol and the 15 second
> sound bite media like CNN, bogus arguments seem to drive out good, and
> if we don't find some bogus arguments to back up CRAF we'll lose to the
> people who aren't afraid to use bogus arguments to cancel it.
 
What a depressing thought!  It may be moot in CRAF's case; experts
believe that it's nearly impossible to revive the project at this
point.  (A storm of protests might nevertheless be politically useful,
I suppose, just to get the "comet lobby" noticed.)

 
     O~~*           /_) ' / /   /_/ '  ,   ,  ' ,_  _           \|/
   - ~ -~~~~~~~~~~~/_) / / /   / / / (_) (_) / / / _\~~~~~~~~~~~zap!
 /       \                          (_) (_)                    / | \
 |       |     Bill Higgins   Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
 \       /     Bitnet:     [email protected]
   -   -       Internet:  [email protected]
     ~         SPAN/Hepnet:      43011::HIGGINS 

re .11
    
>          KEY SCHEDULED DATES FOR THE CASSINI MISSION
>                  EVVEJGA or VVEJGA TRAJECTORY
                   ^^^^^
    
    This is getting a bit over the top isn't it.
    
    I vote for more money for propulsion research.

    Gravity assist is a new toy and they want to play with it 8^)

From:	US1RMC::"[email protected]" "MAIL-11 Daemon"  4-FEB-1994 18:22:57.68
CC:	
Subj:	fyi#14_distr

Lessons Learned: GAO Report on the CRAF/Cassini Missions 
                                                                  
FYI No. 14, February 4, 1994

A General Accounting Office report released this week provides
insights into NASA's decision to cancel the CRAF mission and to
redesign the upcoming Cassini mission.  This report is must reading
for anyone interested in how NASA made these decisions, as well as
for a review of the promises and problems of the 1997 Cassini
mission to Saturn.

House science subcommittee chairman James Hayes (D-LA) requested
this year-long study, which was based on interviews with NASA and
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) officials and the Chairman of the
Space Studies Board, as well as document review.  The report covers
two main topics: the CRAF cancellation and the subsequent
restructuring of the Cassini mission.

GAO found that the CRAF mission was squeezed on two fronts.  The
projected cost of a key instrument, the comet nucleus penetrator,
increased from an initial estimate of $22 million to as much as a
projected $120 million.  This escalation caused NASA to cancel the
instrument, undercutting the mission's justification.  GAO found,
however, that a 1992 National Research Council report (in GAO's
words) "stated that the CRAF mission had great scientific merit
even without the penetrator experiment."  Two other instruments
were also eliminated.

Also squeezing CRAF were congressional budget restrictions on
mission expenditures.  NASA concluded that it had no choice but to
eliminate CRAF, and make certain cost-reducing design changes in
Cassini.  An October 1992 Space Studies Board report concluded that
Cassini's primary scientific objective will not be substantially
compromised, although some research opportunities will be lost. 
Somewhat ominously, NASA has shifted, according to a 1992 JPL
estimate, $94 million in Cassini development phase work to the
much-beleaguered Mission Operations and Data Analysis account.  GAO
also reports on several potential problems which could reduce this
mission's effectiveness.

GAO found little documentation of the CRAF decision, and concluded
that "no studies or analyses were done to evaluate whether to
cancel CRAF or pursue an alternative means of accomplishing CRAF's
missions."  Commenting on the report, science subcommittee member
Connie Morella (R-MD) stated, "We must not forget the lessons
learned from the cancellation of the CRAF mission as Congress
begins preparations for a more austere NASA budget.  Space science
missions, notably, the Cassini mission, could be profoundly affected." 

For a single free copy of "Space Science - Causes and Impacts of
Cutbacks to NASA's Outer Solar System Exploration Missions"
(GAO/NSIAD-94-24) call GAO at 202-512-6000. 

###############
Public Information Division
American Institute of Physics
Contact: Richard M. Jones
(301) 209-3095
###############

% ====== Internet headers and postmarks (see DECWRL::GATEWAY.DOC) ======
% Date: Fri, 4 Feb 94 18:15:03 EST
% From: [email protected]
% Subject: fyi#14_distr