Moonrise: The Next Frontiers

SPACE TRAVEL

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by Astrobiology Magazine
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jul 20, 2004
NASA today announced the selection of two proposals for detailed study as candidates for the next mission in the agency's New Frontiers Program.

The proposals are missions that would drop robotic landers into a crater at the south pole of the moon and return samples to Earth, and a mission that would orbit Jupiter from pole to pole for the first time to conduct an in-depth study of the giant planet.

"These two outstanding proposals were judged to be the best science value among the seven submitted to NASA in 2004," said Dr. Ed Weiler, associate administrator for space science at NASA Headquarters, Washington.

"It was a very tough decision, but we're excited at the prospect of the discoveries either of them could make in continuing our mission of exploration of the solar system, and what they could tell us about our place in the universe," he added.

Each proposal will now receive up to $1.2 million to conduct a seven-month implementation feasibility study focused on cost, management and technical plans, including educational outreach and small business involvement.

Following detailed mission concept studies, due for submission by March 2005, NASA intends to select one of the mission proposals for full development as the second New Frontiers mission by May 2005. The selected New Frontiers science mission must be ready for launch no later than June 30, 2010, within a mission cost cap of $700 million.

The selected full mission investigations, and the Principal Investigators, are:

"Moonrise: Lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return Mission," Dr. Michael Duke Principal Investigator, Colorado School of Mines, Boulder.

This investigation proposes to land two identical landers on the surface near the moon's south pole and to return over two kilograms (about five pounds) of lunar materials from a region of the moon's surface believed to harbor materials from the moon's mantle.

"Juno," Dr Scott Bolton, Principal Investigator, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

This investigation proposes to use a highly instrumented spacecraft placed in a polar orbit about the planet Jupiter to investigate the existence of an ice-rock core, determine the global water and ammonia abundances in Jupiter's atmosphere, study convection and deep wind profiles in the atmosphere, investigate the origin of the jovian magnetic field, and explore the polar magnetosphere.

NASA's New Horizons mission, which will fly by the Pluto-Charon system in 2014 and then target another Kuiper belt object, was designated the first New Frontiers mission. Recent Lunar Timelines
1990
- Japanese Hiten , Lunar Flyby and Orbiter
1994
- Michael Rampino and Richard Strothers propose Earth could be periodically struck by comets dislodged from orbits when the solar system passes through galactic plane
- US Dept. Defense/NASA Clementine mission, Lunar Orbiter/Attempted Asteroid Flyby
1997
- First commercial lunar mission, AsiaSat 3/HGS-1 , Lunar Flyby
1998
- Lunar Prospector launches and enters lunar orbit
1999
- Lunar Prospector tries to detect water on the Moon (polar impact)
2001
- Lunar soil samples and computer models by Robin Canup and Erik Asphaug support impact origin of moon
2003
- SMART 1 , to launch lunar orbiter and test solar-powered ion drive for deep space missions
2004
- Japanese Lunar-A , Lunar Mapping Orbiter and Penetrator, to fire two bullets 3 meters into the lunar soil near Apollo 12 and 14 sites
2006
- Japanese SELENE Lunar Orbiter and Lander, to probe the origin and evolution of the moon

SPACE TRAVEL

NASA Selects Two New Frontiers Mission Concepts For Further Study

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 19, 2004
NASA last Friday announced the selection of two proposals for detailed study as candidates for the next mission in the agency's New Frontiers Program.

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