• NASA Selects Five Mars Orbiter Concept Studies

    From baalke@1:2320/100 to sci.space.news on Fri Jul 22 23:21:09 2016
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    http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6565

    NASA Selects Five Mars Orbiter Concept Studies
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory
    July 18, 2016

    NASA has selected five U.S. aerospace companies to conduct concept studies
    for a potential future Mars orbiter mission. Such a mission would continue
    key capabilities including telecommunications and global high-resolution imaging in support of the agency's Journey to Mars.

    The companies contracted for these four-month studies are: The Boeing
    Company in Huntington Beach, California; Lockheed Martin Space Systems
    in Denver; Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach, California; Orbital ATK in Dulles, Virginia; and Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto, California.

    "We're excited to continue planning for the next decade of Mars exploration," said Geoffrey Yoder, acting associate administrator for NASA's Science
    Mission Directorate in Washington.

    The concept studies will address how a potential new Mars orbiter mission could best provide communications, imaging and operational capabilities.
    They also will assess the possibilities for supporting additional scientific instruments and functionalities, in addition to optical communications.
    The orbiter concept under study would take advantage of U.S. industry's technology capacities by using solar electric propulsion to provide flexible launch, mission and orbit capabilities.

    The Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group, an organization designed
    to provide input to NASA from the Mars research science community, published
    a report six months ago on recommended science objectives for a Mars orbiter. These studies will provide input for assessing the feasibility of addressing these objectives. NASA also is pursuing partnership interest in contributing to this potential mission.

    NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is managing
    the concept studies under the direction of the agency's Mars Exploration Program.

    NASA is on an ambitious Journey to Mars that includes sending humans to
    the Red Planet in the 2030s. The agency's robotic spacecraft are leading
    the way, with two active rovers, three active orbiters, the planned launch
    of the InSight lander in 2018, and development of the Mars 2020 rover.

    For more information about NASA's Journey to Mars, visit:

    https://www.nasa.gov/journeytomars

    News Media Contact
    Guy Webster
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
    818-354-6278
    guy.w.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

    Dwayne Brown / Laurie Cantillo
    Headquarters, Washington
    202-358-1726 / 202-358-1077
    dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov / laura.l.cantillo@nasa.gov

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