Douglas Isbell Headquarters, Washington, DC February 28, 1995 (Phone: 202/358-1753) RELEASE: 95-19 MISSIONS TO THE MOON, SUN, VENUS AND A COMET PICKED FOR DISCOVERY A mission to study the Moon has been selected for funding as part of NASA's Discovery Program, an on-going Agency effort to foster the development of frequent, low- cost solar system exploration missions. Missions to study the Sun, Venus and a comet also have been selected for further detailed study under the Discovery effort. The mission to the Moon, known as Lunar Prospector, was judged mature enough to proceed directly to full development and construction, following final technical definition. Scheduled for launch in June 1997, the $59 million project will map the chemical composition of the lunar surface and the Moon's global magnetic and gravity fields at a level of detail greater than that achieved by previous missions. The mission also should locate any significant quantities of water ice in shadowed craters near the lunar poles, a key issue for any future human exploration. The other three Discovery missions will undergo detailed study for the next six to nine months, leading to a fall 1995 decision to pick one for development and flight. They are: + Stardust, which would fly through the extended coma of the active comet P/Wild 2, taking images and returning a sample of its cometary dust to Earth laboratories; + The Venus Multiprobe Mission, which would drop 16 small probes into the thick Venusian atmosphere to enable study of its unusual atmospheric circulation; and + Suess-Urey, which would collect samples of solar particle matter streaming outward from the Sun and return it to Earth for laboratory study. "I am absolutely thrilled with the potential of these missions, and with the universally high quality of the 28 proposals submitted to us," said NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin. "The university and aerospace industry communities should be proud of their efforts, which represent a model of how to pursue scientifically first- rate space exploration using small, advanced spacecraft." The Lunar Prospector will be built and launched on a Lockheed Launch Vehicle by Lockheed Missiles and Space Co., Sunnyvale, CA, under the direction of Principal Investigator Dr. Alan Binder of Lockheed. NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA, will be responsible for one of the spacecraft's instruments and technical support. The Suess-Urey team is led by Principal Investigator Dr. Donald Burnett of the California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA, with Martin Marietta Astronautics of Denver, CO, as the contractor. The Venus Multiprobe Mission team is led by Principal Investigator Dr. Richard Goody of Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, with Hughes Space and Communications Group, El Segundo, CA, as the industry contractor. The Stardust team is led by Principal Investigator Dr. Donald Brownlee of the University of Washington in Seattle, with Martin Marietta as the contractor. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, will provide project management for these three missions. "Discovery missions are far less expensive than any mission we have ever done in planetary exploration, yet they promise to deliver excellent science," said Dr. Wesley T. Huntress Jr., NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science. "We've turned the old way of doing business upside down." Formally started in NASA's FY 1994 budget, the Discovery program features small planetary exploration spacecraft with focused science goals that can be built in 36 months or less, for less than $150 million (FY92$), not including the cost of the launch vehicle. The program grew out of discussions and workshops that NASA has held with the science community. Stardust would be launched on a Med-Lite in February 1999 for a total cost to NASA of $208 million. The Venus Multiprobe Mission would be launched on a Delta II launch vehicle in June 1999 for a total cost to NASA of $202 million. Suess-Urey would be launched on a NASA Med-Lite launch vehicle in August 1999 for a total mission cost to NASA of $214 million. Twenty-eight formal proposals for the next Discovery missions were received by NASA in October 1994 in response to an August 1994 Announcement of Opportunity (see attached list). Two missions are already under development in the Discovery program: the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission, scheduled for launch in February 1996 to orbit around the asteroid Eros beginning in January 1999; and Mars Pathfinder, a small surface lander and rover that will be launched to Mars in November 1996 and land in July 1997. NASA officials hope to release Announcements of Opportunity for new Discovery investigations on the average of every 18 months. The actual release dates depend on future approved NASA budgets and the size of previously selected missions. -end- PROPOSED MISSIONS TITLE/TYPE PROPOSER/ORGANIZATION ASTER- Asteroid Earth Return Fanale, Fraser/Univ. Hawaii Comet Nucleus Penetrator Boynton, William/Univ. Arizona Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) Veverka, Joseph/Cornell Cometary Coma Chemical Composition (C4) Carle, Glenn/ARC Diana (Lunar & Cometary Mission) Russell, Christopher/UCLA FRESIP-A mission to Find the Frequency Borucki, William J./ARC of Earth-sized Inner Planets Hermes Global Orbiter (Mercury Orbiter) Nelson, Robert/JPL Icy Moon Mission (Lunar Orbiter) Murray, Bruce/Caltech Interlune-One (Lunar Rovers) Schmitt, Harrison/Univ. Wisc. Jovian Integrated Synoptic Telescope Feldman, Paul/JHU (IO Torus investigation) Lunar Discovery Orbiter Boynton, William/Univ. Arizona Lunar Prospector (Lunar Orbiter) Binder, Alan B./Lockheed Mainbelt Asteroid Exploration/Rendezvous Veverka, Joseph/Cornell Mars Aerial Platform (Atmospheric) Greeley, Ronald/Arizona State Mars Polar Pathfinder (Polar Lander) Paige, David/UCLA Mars Upper Atmosphere Dynamics, Killeen, T/Univ. Michigan Energetics and Evolution Mercury Polar Flyby Spudis, Paul/LPI Near Earth Asteroid Returned Sample Shoemaker, Carolyn/No. Arizona Origin of Asteroids, Comets and Life Nozette, Stewart/ Phillips Lab. on Earth PELE: A Lunar Mission to Study Taylor, G. Jeffrey/Univ. HI Planetary Volcanism Planetary Research Telescope Broadfoot, A. Lyle/Univ. Arizona Rendezvous with a Comet Nucleus (RECON) Squyres, Steven/Cornell Suess-Urey (Solar Wind Sample Return) Burnett, Donald S./Caltech Small Missions to Asteroids and Comets Belton, Michael/Kitt Peak Stardust (Cometary/Interstellar Brownlee, Donald E/Univ. WA Dust Return) Venus Composition Probe (Atmospheric) Esposito, Larry/Univ. Colorado Venus Environmental Satellite Baines, Kevin H./JPL (Atmospheric) Venus Multi-Probe Mission (Atmospheric) Goody, Richard/Harvard -end- NASA press releases and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to domo@hq.nasa.gov. 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.