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Executive Summary
Pages 1-8

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From page 1...
... It will provide fundamental new scientific knowledge, engage a broad segment of the planetary science community, and have wide appeal for the general public whose support enables the program. A major accomplishment of the program recommended by the Committee on the Planetary Science Decadal Survey will be taking the first critical steps toward returning carefully selected samples from the surface of Mars.
From page 2...
... It includes seven recommended candidate New Frontiers missions from which NASA will select two for flight in the coming decade. These New Frontiers candidates cover a vast sweep of exciting planetary science questions: the surface composition of Venus, the internal structure of the Moon, the composition of the lunar mantle, the nature of Trojan asteroids, the composition of comet nuclei, the geophysics of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, and the structure and detailed composition of Saturn's atmosphere.
From page 3...
... The committee recommends changing the New Frontiers cost cap to $1.0 billion­FY2015, excluding launch vehicle costs. This change represents a modest increase in the effective cost cap and will allow a scientifically rich and diverse set of New Frontiers missions to be carried out, and will help protect the science content of the New Frontiers program against increases and volatility in launch vehicle costs.
From page 4...
... comet nucleus surface sample • Mission design • Characterize the surface region sampled • System mass • Preserve sample complex organics Lunar South Pole-Aitken Same as 2003 decadal surveya Not evaluated by 5 Basin Sample Return decadal survey Saturn Probe • Determine noble gas abundances and isotopic ratios of • Entry probe 7 hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen in Saturn's atmosphere • Payload requirements • Determine the atmospheric structure at the probe descent growth location Trojan Tour and Visit, observe, and characterize multiple Trojan asteroids • System power 4 Rendezvous • System mass Venus In Situ Explorer Same as 2003 decadal surveya (and amended by 2008 NRC Not evaluated by 5 report Opening New Frontiersb) decadal survey NOTE: On May 25, 2011, following the completion of this report, NASA selected the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample-return spacecraft as the third New Frontiers mission.
From page 5...
... Therefore, while the committee recommends JEO as the second-highest-priority flagship mission, close behind MAX-C, it should fly in the decade 2013-2022 only if changes to both the mission and the NASA planetary budget make it affordable without eliminating any other recommended missions. These changes are likely to involve both a reduction in mission scope and a formal budgetary new start for JEO that is accompanied by an increase in the NASA planetary budget.
From page 6...
... It includes the following elements (in no particular order) : • Discovery program funded at the current level adjusted for inflation, • Mars Trace Gas Orbiter conducted jointly with ESA, • New Frontiers Missions 4 and 5, • MAX-C (descoped to $2.5 billion)
From page 7...
... This program should be consistently funded at approximately 6 to 8 percent of the total NASA Planetary Science Division budget. NSF-FUNDED RESEARCH AND INFRASTRUCTURE The National Science Foundation supports nearly all areas of planetary science except space missions, which it supports indirectly through laboratory research and archived data.


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