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Posted by on May 4, 2009, 5:38 pm
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May 04, 2009
Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov
CONTRACT RELEASE: C09-020
NASA SELECTS FUTURE PROJECTS TO STUDY MARS AND MERCURY
WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected two science investigations that will
aid in the interior examination of Mars and probe the tenuous
atmosphere of Mercury. The projects, valued at approximately $38
million, also establish new alliances with the European Space Agency,
or ESA.
"The selections will further advance our knowledge of these exciting
terrestrial planets," said Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary
Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The international
collaboration will create a new chapter in planetary science and
provide a strong partnership with the international science community
to complement future robotic and human exploration activities."
The Lander Radio-Science on ExoMars, or LaRa, will use NASA's Deep
Space Network of radio telescopes to track part of ESA's ExoMars
mission. Scheduled to launch in 2016, the mission consists of a fixed
lander and a rover that will roam Mars collecting soil samples for
detailed analysis.
Data relayed from the lander back to the network will allow
scientists
to measure and analyze variations in the length of the day and
location of the planet's rotational axis. This data will help
researchers further dissect the structure of the Red Planet's
interior, including the size of its core. When combined with the
lander's onboard instruments, the data also may help confirm whether
the planet's interior is still, at least partially, composed of
liquid. William Folkner of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, Calif., is the principal investigator. The project costs
approximately $6.6 million.
The second selection, named Strofio, will employ a unique mass
spectrometer. The instrument will determine the mass of atoms and
molecules to reveal the composition of Mercury's atmosphere. The
investigation will study the atmosphere, which is formed from
material ejected from its surface, to reveal the composition of
Mercury's surface.
Strofio will investigate Mercury as a key component of the Italian
Space Agency's suite of science instruments that will fly aboard
ESA's BepiColombo mission. Scheduled for launch in 2013, the mission
is composed of two spacecraft. Japan will build one spacecraft to
study the planet's magnetic field. ESA will build the other to study
Mercury directly. Stefano Livi of the Southwest Research Institute in
San Antonio is the principal investigator. The project costs
approximately $31.8 million.
The selections were among eight proposals submitted in December 2008
in response to NASA's new Stand Alone Mission of Opportunity, known
as Salmon. NASA solicited proposals for investigations that address
planetary science research objectives on non-agency missions. A key
criterion is that science goals, including data archiving and
analysis, must be accomplished for less than $35 million.
NASA's Deep Space Network is an international system of antennas that
support interplanetary spacecraft missions and radio and radar
astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and
the universe. The network also supports selected Earth-orbiting
missions. The system consists of three deep-space communications
facilities placed around the world in California's Mojave Desert;
Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia. This strategic placement
permits constant observation of spacecraft as Earth rotates and helps
to make the network the largest and most sensitive scientific
telecommunications system in the world.
NASA's Planetary Science Division aims to improve understanding of
the
planets and small bodies that inhabit our solar system. Mission
activities include helping scientists answer questions about the
solar system's formation, how it reached its current diverse state,
and how life evolved on Earth and possibly elsewhere in the solar
system. The Mars Exploration Program, a component of the Planetary
Division, seeks to characterize and understand Mars as a dynamic
system, including its present and past environment, climate cycles,
geology and biological potential.
For more information about the Stand Alone Mission of Opportunity,
visit:
http://salmon.larc.nasa.gov
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
-end-
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