DISCOVERY&NEW FRONTIERS ::: TECHNOLOGY

Solar system exploration presents unique challenges. It requires highly capable robotic vehicles that can travel vast distances with an array of instruments to make detailed scientific measurements. It requires power to fly the missions and place the space probes into orbit around or on the surface of another world, where they must be able to survive and function in hostile environments. The spacecraft acquire and transmit data and sometimes return planetary samples back to Earth. The scientific requirements of solar system exploration have driven some of the most remarkable engineering achievements of the past four decades.

The challenges common to all planetary missions - immense distances, long flight times, stringent limitations on mass, power, and data rate - mean that technology advances in these

areas benefit all missions. The short development times and cost constraints of Discovery andNew Frontiers missions mean they are always seeking new technologies to accomplish their science objectives.

Important technological innovations used in Discovery and New Frontiers missions:

Discovery's first mission, Mars Pathfinder, successfully demonstrated the use of deployable airbags to safely land a payload on another planet and a robotic rover to transmit science data.
Robotic sample return missions are a priority to scientists, and Stardust and Genesis have led the way. Aerogel, developed in the 1930's and used previously in space as a thermal insulator, is employed by Stardust to capture particles of comet and interstellar dust in its collector grid. It is a silicon-based solid with a porous, sponge-like structure in which 99.8 percent of the volume is empty space. Genesis used a series of wafers made of sapphire, silicon, gold and diamond to collect raw solar wind particles in outer space. The two missions had to meet the challenges of designing sample handling and packaging systems and safe, lightweight Earth entry vehicles.
MESSENGER faces intense heat at Mercury, where the Sun is up to 11 times brighter than on Earth and surface temperatures can reach 840 degrees Fahrenheit. But MESSENGER will operate at room temperature behind a sunshade made of heat-resistant ceramic cloth. It also made deep space communications history with its electronically-steered phased array antennas that will allow scientists to send back twice as much data about the planet than originally envisioned.
Deep Impact's great challenge is to target and successfully impact the 3.7 mile diameter comet Tempel 1 while traveling at a relative velocity of 6 miles per second. The two-part spacecraft is using newly developed avionics elements and innovative software to accomplish its goals. After separation, the "smart" impactor guided itself into the path of the comet nucleus, with some path corrections made by the navigation team at JPL, while the flyby spacecraft slowed down to observe the impact and return images.
Chemical propulsion has been used on all previous planetary missions. A major step forward in interplanetary transportation technology occurred in 2001 with the successful flight of Deep Space 1, powered by solar electric propulsion (SEP). This technology can reduce the propellant required to reach certain planetary destinations by a factor of 10 or more. Discovery's Dawn mission will be the first science project to use SEP, allowing it to fly by two asteroids on one trip through space.
The key technology at the heart of the Kepler mission to search for Earth-size planets around other stars is a set of charged coupled devices (CCDs) in the photometer to measure the brightness of hundreds of thousands of stars at the same time. It's only been in recent years that the technologies to conduct such a search reached maturity.
The New Horizons mission to Pluto has stepped up to the many challenges it faces due to the huge distance it must travel (32 times farther than the Earth-Sun distance) and the length of time it will take to get there (9.5 years). The large distance from the Sun means that solar cells cannot be used to power the spacecraft. Electrical power would be provided by a single radioisotope thermoelectric generator, or RTG, provided by the Department of Energy. The onboard systems must be designed to operate in a cold environment, so the mission uses a "thermos bottle" design to maintain safe operating temperatures in deep space. The spacecraft is using a regenerative ranging capability that can yield up to 30 dB improvement over standard ranging at long distances. And it has an advanced digital receiver that consumes 60% less power than current deep space receivers.

NASA "Spinoffs" show how technologies developed to explore space are being used by all of us everyday. http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/technologies/spinoffs_index.html

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has a strong program of developing and validating space exploration technologies and then transfering them to industry. http://technology.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/index.cfm?page=imagesAllByCat&catId=11

Education and Public Outreach Approach

The excitement of exploration combined with the mystery and beauty of the planets draws students and the public to NASA's journeys of discovery, where they have a unique opportunity for direct participation. Through this participation, the missions enable the next generation of explorers to write new and exciting chapters in the story of the solar system and our place within it. By engaging the public in this adventure, NASA seeks to make solar system exploration part of the shared human experience on Earth.

Each Discovery and New Frontiers mission devotes 1 - 2% of its overall budget to education and public outreach (E/PO). The Program office also has undertaken an E/PO effort to reach students and citizens and to work with the missions in their efforts to explain the science behind their journey. NASA's educational efforts target formal K-12 classrooms with grade-level specific coursework, college students with direct participation activities, and pre-service and in-service educators with systemic trainings. Informal education audiences include museums, science centers, planetariums, libraries, youth-serving organizations and community groups. The Internet extends a broad reach to the general public. A nationwide network of Solar System Ambassadors give public talks, as do many mission team members.