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Science Opportunities Enabled by NASA's Constellation System Interim Report (2008) / Chapter Skim
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1 The Constellation System and Opportunities for Science
Pages 5-10

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From page 5...
... There is a direct relationship between the size of a spacecraft and its cost. Expensive space science programs will place a great strain on the space science budget, which has been essentially flat for several years and is already under strain from an ambitious slate of 85 flight missions.3 To estimate the costs of potential large space science missions, the committee used NASA's Advanced Missions Cost Model and estimated the costs of three new-design planetary science missions 1 Marc Timm, "Constellation Overview" presented to National Research Council Committee on Science Opportunities Enabled by NASA's Constellation System, February 2008.
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From page 6...
... currently in the U.S. inventory⎯the Delta IV heavy with a launch cost of about $250 million.5 The combined effect of expensive payloads and expensive launchers would distort the balance of the space science program.
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From page 7...
... , the committee determined that the Ares I capabilities are not sufficiently distinct from EELV capabilities that they will enable different types or quality of space science missions. The lift capability and payload volume of the Ares I, with a science shroud, are roughly equivalent to the Delta IV heavy launch vehicle configuration for missions to a low Earth orbit (LEO)
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From page 8...
... APPROACH AND EVALUATION CRITERIA The committee chose a two-phase approach to assessing potential space and Earth science mission concepts in view of the new Constellation architecture. First, the committee analyzed the 11 Vision Mission concepts already in hand from NASA's 2004 solicitation; this analysis is the subject of this interim report.
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From page 9...
... The committee had only a limited set of proposals/subjects to work with, and the evaluations presented in this interim report do not imply any restriction on future areas of interest that may be addressed in the final report. In particular, it is possible that Earth science missions could take advantage of Constellation's capabilities, although none of the Vision Mission studies addressed in this interim report proposed Earth science missions.
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From page 10...
... In most cases, the proposers were basing their cost estimates on an EELV launch vehicle and not on the Constellation launch vehicles or architecture, particularly Ares V Transitioning of payloads to a new, more capable vehicle would require reconsideration of several items: complexity of instrument packaging and deployment, need for auxiliary propulsion, and so on, all of which would affect mission costs.
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Key Terms

  • space science
  • mission concepts
  • launch vehicle
  • vision mission
  • low earth

  • earth orbit
  • metric tons
  • launch vehicles
  • earth science
  • committee determined

  • science mission
  • mission studies
  • vision missions
  • decadal survey
  • payload capability

  • cost model
  • orion spacecraft
  • advanced mission
  • mission cost
  • space studies

  • potential space
  • space exploration
  • committee analyzed
  • committee evaluated
  • committee received

  • advanced missions
  • eelv family
  • cost estimates
  • decadal surveys
  • relative technical


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