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From page 518... ... 20 Infrastructure for Planetary Science and Exploration Planetary science is highly dependent on infrastructure -- that is, the equipment, instrumentation, and facilities that enable advanced study of planetary bodies, through simulations, experiments, remote observations, and spacecraft exploration.1 In response to the survey's statement of task for the development of a comprehensive research strategy, this chapter provides background, findings, and recommendations on key infrastructure elements that support the priority activities in planetary science, astrobiology, and planetary defense identified in other parts of the report. Infrastructure, as defined here, includes the facilities, services, and organizational relationships needed to advance the mission of NASA's Planetary Science Division that are not directly supported by individual program elements. Read the entire page →
From page 519... ... INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE AND EXPLORATION 519 as well. These facilities are available for use by the community through partnership agreements and the committee supports this effort. Read the entire page →
From page 520... ... 520 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE c ompared to spacecraft instrumentation, delivering capabilities such as high spectral resolution, spectral multi plexing, and the strong light-gathering power of large apertures. Currently, NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility devotes 50 percent of its time to solar system studies, but all other facilities rely on competitive proposals each semester, with limited NASA/ESA guidance on priorities for spacecraft mission science support. Read the entire page →
From page 521... ... INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE AND EXPLORATION 521 FIGURE 20-1 Past and predicted loading of the Deep Space Network for 2010 to 2045, based on a past notional mission manifest. Although the planned missions have changed, the challenge remains that a factor of 10 increase in data downlink is expected by 2030 owing to mission complexity and instrument advances. Read the entire page →
From page 522... ... 522 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE the DSN needs to be able to receive data from more than one mission at one station simultaneously. If new arrays can only mimic the ability of one 70-meter station and nothing more, missions will remain downlink-constrained and will have to compete against one another for limited downlink resources. Read the entire page →
From page 523... ... INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE AND EXPLORATION 523 community for planned analyses that take advantage of leading geochemical and microanalytical facilities around the world (Carrier et al. 2022; see also Chapter 22) Read the entire page →
From page 524... ... 524 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE development of new techniques and instrumentation. As an example, the Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis Program has demonstrated the usefulness of the technique of X-ray computed tomography for documenting materials in previously unopened lunar samples from Apollo missions without disturbing the sample (Zeigler et al. Read the entire page →
From page 525... ... INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE AND EXPLORATION 525 FIGURE 20-2 Example illustrating the need to increase production of 238PuO2 above 1.5 kg/year. With the cadence assumed here (Dragonfly with one multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) Read the entire page →
From page 526... ... 526 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE FIGURE 20-3 Performance comparison curves for launch vehicles proposed to be available during the time period covered by this decadal survey; the heavy lift options (SLS, Vulcan) are not yet ready for flight, constraining distant and/or large mission launches. Read the entire page →
From page 527... ... INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE AND EXPLORATION 527 Planetary Data System The Planetary Data System (PDS) has been a pioneering repository and archive of planetary mission data for many decades. Read the entire page →
From page 528... ... 528 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE Repositories of model output can also be designed to contain only the most recent complete outputs from a particular model, with earlier datasets simply documented for posterity. Finding: A clear plan for the preservation and sharing of planetary model input and output data, involving both the PDS and planetary modeling communities, is needed to develop a network of discipline-specific, community recognized repositories, rather than via rigorous, costly, and often unnecessary archiving. Read the entire page →
From page 529... ... INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE AND EXPLORATION 529 space research activities in a new 2020 memorandum of understanding (NASA-NSF 2020) Read the entire page →
From page 530... ... 530 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE The next generation of extremely large (larger than 20 m effective diameter) optical telescopes (ELTs) Read the entire page →
From page 531... ... INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE AND EXPLORATION 531 antenna for GSSR. Additionally, GBT is currently considering the addition of a radar transmitter (Bonsall et al. Read the entire page →
From page 532... ... 532 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE International Facilities In mid-2021, the European Space Agency (ESA) released its Voyage 2050 exploration themes for the period 2035–2050 (ESA 2021) Read the entire page →
From page 533... ... INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE AND EXPLORATION 533 Lazio, J., B Arnold, B Read the entire page →

From page 518...

... 20 Infrastructure for Planetary Science and Exploration Planetary science is highly dependent on infrastructure -- that is, the equipment, instrumentation, and facilities that enable advanced study of planetary bodies, through simulations, experiments, remote observations, and spacecraft exploration.1 In response to the survey's statement of task for the development of a comprehensive research strategy, this chapter provides background, findings, and recommendations on key infrastructure elements that support the priority activities in planetary science, astrobiology, and planetary defense identified in other parts of the report. Infrastructure, as defined here, includes the facilities, services, and organizational relationships needed to advance the mission of NASA's Planetary Science Division that are not directly supported by individual program elements.