DISCOVERY PROGRAM

Lunar Prospector is the first competitively selected and the third to launch in a series of missions in NASA's recently implemented Discovery Program. The program's motto,"Faster, Better, Cheaper," was born of current NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin's vision for a more streamlined approach to exploring space in a lean, post-Cold War economy. The Discovery program strikes a balance between implementing new technologies and paying careful attention to cost containment. The requirement to complete an entire Discovery mission in three or less years is designed to ensure the use of only the most recent, up-to-date technology. Finally, a key component of the Discovery program is public awareness -- each mission aims to increase appreciation for space exploration through educational outreach activities. 

All Discovery missions by definition don't transport humans into space -- a feature that not only keeps expenses down but also permits higher-risk projects. Unlike previous NASA-sponsored space exploration, the Discovery program does not have a specific agenda with regard to scientific topic. Approximately every year and a half, requests for proposals are issued by NASA -- the program goal is to launch one Discovery mission per year. Proposals are reviewed based on several criteria, including scientific content, technological innovation, economy of the proposed mission development and execution, and public awareness/educational outreach possibilities. Thus, the quality of the overall proposal in conjunction with subject determines what will be funded -- whether it be planets, comets, asteroids or deep space. 
To date, eight Discovery missions have been selected. The highly successful Mars Pathfinder mission, which landed a rover on the Red Planet and sent back thousands of images and measurements, is completed. Lunar Prospector has ended, but data analysis still ongoing. Already launched and flying through space, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous will explore asteroid Eros 433 and Stardust will return the first samples of a comet. Genesis is a solar wind sample return mission scheduled to launch in 2001. The Comet Nucleus Tour, or CONTOUR, mission will launch in 2002 and fly by three near-Earth comets. Two recently selected projects will begin development soon. MESSENGER will explore the planet Mercury, and Deep Impact will propel a large projectile into a comet, creating a huge crater and the chance to study the pristine interior of a comet. The next request for proposals is plannned to be announced in early 2000.  

Lunar Prospector is a free-flier that will not land on the the surface of the Moon. It was launched on Jan. 6, 1998 and, on Jan. 11, 1998, was successfully placed into a lunar polar orbit 63 miles above the Moon's surface. The spacecraft and its instruments will conduct studies of the Moon for a period of one year. It will remain in orbit until the spacecraft runs out of fuel and impacts the surface of the Moon. A small, spin-stabilized spacecraft that uses flight-qualified, modern technologies and instrumentation, Prospector will ensure results while minimizing risk. Prospector is simply designed -- it is a small graphite-epoxy drum with surface-mounted solar cells and three 8-foot masts which carry its instruments and isolate them from the main body of the spacecraft. Lunar Prospector will map the elemental composition, the gravity and magnetic fields, and resources of the Moon. It will provide insights into lunar origin and evolution. Finally, Prospector will definitively determine whether or not water ice is present in the Moon's polar regions. Prospector's 22-month development period demonstrates a streamlined process of developing a spacecraft and is a model of private industry/government cooperation. 

Mars Pathfinder, the second Discovery mission, was launched into space December 4,1996, and made a historic arrival to the surface of Mars on July 4, 1997, when it deployed a tiny micro-rover called Sojourner to examine rocks in the martian soil. The Pathfinder mission is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. Pathfinder's primary goals are to study the martian atmosphere, surface meteorology and aerology (like Earth's "geo"-logy), and elemental composition of the rocks and soil. 

NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous), NASA's first Discovery Mission, operated by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, will be the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid. It is designed to provide scientists with data to answer fundamental questions about near-earth objects such as asteroids and comets. NEAR will rendezvous with asteroid 433 Eros on February 6,1999.   

Stardust, NASA's fourth Discovery mission, is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. Stardust launched in February 1999. The primary aims of the Stardust mission are to gather comet particles and interstellar dust. Such information will help scientists understand more about the nature and history of the Solar System. 

Genesis, selected as a Discovery mission in 1998, will gather samples of charged particles in solar wind and return them to Earth through an airborne capture. JPL is leading the project development.

CONTOUR, a mission to fly by three comets and provide images and spectral maps of comet nuclei and analysis of comet dust, is mangaed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.