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Opening New Frontiers in Space Choices for the Next New Frontiers Announcement of Opportunity (2008) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 1-5

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From page 1...
... but smaller than "flagship" missions, which are led by a NASA center and are defined as larger than $750 million, but in actuality cost several billion dollars. New Frontiers is operated as a program, similar to the Discovery- and Mars Scout-class missions, meaning that Congress and the White House National Research Council, New Frontiers in the Solar System: An Integrated Exploration Strategy, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2003.
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From page 2...
... The decadal survey specified five mission candidates and ranked them according to priority: • Kuiper Belt Pluto Explorer, • South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return, • Jupiter Polar Orbiter with Probes, • Venus In Situ Explorer, and • Comet Surface Sample Return. The decadal survey stated that although this list was ranked by scientific priority, NASA should not automatically select on the basis of that priority and should first consider the overall viability of the proposed mission.
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From page 3...
... The committee believes that this action would be bad for both the New Frontiers Program and the Mars Exploration Program. However, the committee ultimately determined that within the context of comparative terrestrial planetology (i.e., network seismic and meteorological science)
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From page 4...
... As with prior competitive mission opportunities, NASA should select from this set of missions based both on science priority and on overall mission viability. Recommendation 2: NASA should expand the list of potential missions in the next New Frontiers announcement of opportunity to include the three remaining candidate missions -- South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return, Venus In Situ Explorer, and Comet Surface Sample Return -- and also the five additional mediumsize missions mentioned in the decadal survey: Network Science, Trojan/Centaur Reconnaissance, Asteroid Rover/Sample Return, Io Observer, and Ganymede Observer.
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From page 5...
... Finally, the committee notes that the New Frontiers Program is intended to be both strategic -- based on the science goals established in the decadal survey -- and adaptable to new discoveries. The committee believes that it is important for NASA to find a method for incorporating new discoveries into the goals of the program for announcements of opportunity made several years after a decadal survey has been produced.
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Key Terms

  • frontiers program
  • frontiers missions
  • mission options
  • integrated exploration
  • network science

  • exploration program
  • exploration strategy
  • sample return
  • five additional
  • comet surface

  • surface sample
  • ganymede observer
  • potential proposers
  • situ explorer
  • mars mission

  • mars exploration
  • potential missions
  • survey treated
  • candidate missions
  • scientific priorities

  • scientific discoveries
  • survey recommended
  • treated mars
  • basin sample
  • cost cap

  • return data
  • overly specific
  • nrc decadal
  • frontiers mission
  • frontiers announcement


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