Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 1.11. Status of Solar System exploration by spacecraft important for planetary geomorphology.
the science community, and the public. NASA is an inde-
pendent
achieve those goals (e.g., the kind of spacecraft), and the
budget to make it all happen. In practice, the process is
often more haphazard, yet most of the constituencies are
still involved to varying degrees. The time from initial
mission concept to the return of data is usually years, or
even decades.
Once a project has been approved, the mission is
assigned to a NASA research center or run through the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California or the
Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland, both
of which are NASA contract research centers. Flight pro-
jects go through various phases from design and develop-
ment through mission operations. Early in the process,
a Science Definition Team (SDT) is appointed from
the scienti
c community, which has the responsibility
for determining the speci
c objectives for the mission.
After this has been completed, an Announcement of
Opportunity is released by NASA, enabling proposals to
be submitted for building the spacecraft and providing the
science payload or instruments. Individuals and organiza-
tions can then compete for selection, which is made
through peer-reviews of the proposals.
federal agency, meaning that
there is no
“
and its Administrator is appointed
by the President. Direct science input is through NASA
committees, with members appointed from universities,
NASA centers, and other research organizations. The
National Academy of Sciences (through its working
organization, the National Research Council, or NRC)
provides science guidance. This is accomplished by
means of formal reports prepared by scientists from
the planetary community that recommend missions and
research activities covering a ten-year period, known
informally as decadal surveys (NRC,
2011
). Individuals
influence Solar System exploration by making their opin-
ions known through communication with NASA,
Congress, and the Administration. Coordinated input
is often conducted through organizations such as The
Planetary Society (
http://www.planetary.org/home/
),
the National Space Society (
http://www.nss.org/)
, and
the Mars Society (
http://www.marssociety.org/
).
In principle, the various constituencies work together to
derive the speci
c goals for a mission, the means to
Department of Space
”
