Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 (2011) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 9-30
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From page 9... ...
to review and assess the current status of planetary science and to develop a comprehensive science and mission strategy that updates and extends the National Research Council's (NRC's) 2003 planetary decadal survey, New Frontiers in the Solar System: An Integrated Exploration Strategy.1 As is standard for a decadal survey, the Committee on the Planetary Science Decadal Survey that was established to write this report broadly canvassed the planetary science community to determine the current state of knowledge and to identify the most important science questions to be addressed during the period 2013-2022.
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From page 10... ...
Some especially notable examples include the following: • An explosion in the number of known exoplanets, • Evidence that the Moon is less dry than once thought, • Minerals that must have formed in a diverse set of aqueous environments throughout martian history, • Extensive deposits of near-surface ice on Mars, • An active meteorological cycle involving liquid methane on Titan, • Dramatic changes in the atmospheres and rings of the giant planets, • Recent volcanic activity on Venus, • Geothermal and plume activity at the south pole of Enceladus, • The anomalous isotopic composition of the planets,
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From page 11... ...
Important objects for study: Enceladus, Europa, Mars, and Titan. • Workings of solar systems -- How do the giant planets serve as laboratories to understand Earth, the solar system, and extrasolar planetary systems?
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The annual budget of the PSD is currently approximately $1.3 billion, the bulk of which is spent on the development, construction, launch, and operation of spacecraft. Two types of spacecraft missions are conducted: large "flagship" missions strategically directed by the PSD and smaller Discovery and New Frontiers missions proposed and led by principal investigators (PIs)
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From page 13... ...
Conversely, a portfolio of only Discovery-class missions would be incapable of addressing important scientific challenges such as in-depth exploration of the outer planets. NASA's suite of planetary missions for the decade 2013-2022 should consist of a balanced mix of Discovery, New Frontiers, and flagship missions, enabling both a steady stream of new discoveries and the capability to address larger challenges such as sample return missions and outer planet exploration.
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The committee stresses, however, that the Discovery program has made important and fundamental contributions to planetary exploration and can continue to do so in the coming decade. The committee gives the Discovery program its strong support.
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New Frontiers Mission 4 should be selected from among the following five candidates: • Comet Surface Sample Return, • Lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return, • Saturn Probe, • Trojan Tour and Rendezvous, and • Venus In Situ Explorer.
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Because it was difficult to discriminate between the Mars Sample Return campaign and JEO on the basis of their anticipated science return per dollar alone, other factors came into play. Foremost among these was the need to maintain programmatic balance by ensuring that no one mission takes up too large a fraction of the planetary budget at any given time.
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To be of benefit to NASA, this partnership must also involve ESA participation in other missions of the three-mission Mars Sample Return campaign. It is crucial to both parties for the partnership to be preserved.
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From page 18... ...
: • 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 at $2.5 billion, • Jupiter Europa Orbiter, and • Uranus Orbiter and Probe. The cost-constrained program can be conducted assuming the currently projected NASA planetary budget (see Appendix E)
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Comet Surface Sample Return, Venus Climate Mission, Discovery missions Planetary 4. What were the primordial sources of organic matter, Mars Sample Return, Jupiter Europa Orbiter, Uranus habitats and where does organic synthesis continue today?
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Although consideration of these missions is deferred, technology investments must be made in the decade 2013-2022 to enable them and to reduce their costs and risk. In particular, it is important to make significant technology investments in the Mars Sample Return Lander, Mars Sample Return Orbiter, Titan Saturn System Mission, and Neptune System Orbiter and Probe.
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The committee is alarmed at the limited availability of plutonium-238 for planetary exploration. Without a restart of domestic production of plutonium-238, it will be impossible for the United States, or any other country, to conduct certain important types of planetary missions after this decade.
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Modest additional funding must also be set aside to convey to the public the important scientific results from the longer-term supporting research and analysis programs. Research Infrastructure The infrastructure supporting NASA's spacecraft missions and related research activities includes ground- and space-based telescopes, the Deep Space Network, and sample curation and laboratory facilities.
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To derive the full science return from sample return missions, it is critical to maintain technical and instrumental capabilities for initial sample characterization, as well as foster expansion to encompass appropriate new analytical instrumentation as it becomes available and as different sample types are acquired. Well before planetary missions return samples, NASA should establish a well-coordinated and integrated program for development of the next generation of laboratory instruments to be used in sample characterization and analysis.
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that take an identified technology to a maturity at which it is ready to be applied to a flight project. A primary deficiency in past NASA planetary exploration technology programs has been an overemphasis on TRLs 1-3 at the expense of the more costly but vital mid-level efforts necessary to bring the technology to flight readiness.
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They can benefit from, and in fact are enabled by, strategic technology investments. An obvious candidate for such investments is the Mars Sample Return campaign.
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Scientifically useful investigations should still be developed to augment human missions to the Moon or NEOs. The committee urges the human exploration program to examine this decadal survey and identify -- in close coordination and negotiation with the SMD -- bjectives o whereby human-tended science can advance fundamental knowledge.
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International Cooperation Planetary exploration is an increasingly international endeavor, with the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, Canada, China, and India independently or collaboratively mounting major planetary missions. As budgets for space programs come under increasing pressure and the complexity of the missions grows, international coopera tion becomes an enabling component.
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Understanding the Sun is critical to understanding its relationship to planetary atmospheres and surfaces. The committee endorses and echoes the 2010 astronomy and astrophysics decadal survey report's recommendation that "NSF should work with the solar, heliospheric, stellar, planetary, and geospace communities to determine the best route to an effective and balanced ground-based solar astronomy program that maintains multidisciplinary ties."11 Many important advances in planetary research have come from access to private facilities such as the Keck, Magellan, and MMT observatories via NSF's Telescope System Instrumentation Program.
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The committee believes that it is essential that the design of ELTs accommodate the requirements of planetary science to acquire and observe targets that are moving, extended, and/or bright, and that the needs of planetary mission planning be considered in awarding and scheduling public time for ELTs. Laboratory Studies and Facilities for Planetary Science To maximize the science return from NSF-funded ground-based observations and NASA space missions alike, materials and processes must be studied in the laboratory.
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From page 30... ...
4 This is the cost of MAX-C only, not the cost of the full Mars Sample Return campaign. Also, the estimate is for the .
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