PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF 91109
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Contacts: John G. Watson, JPL, (818) 354-5011
Douglas Isbell, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC (202) 358-1753
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASESeptember 29, 1997
SCIENCE TEAM CHOSEN FOR TECHNOLOGY VALIDATION MISSION TO EXPLORE
AN ASTEROID AND A COMET
Ten planetary scientists have been chosen to lead the
analysis of measurements to be made by miniaturized instruments
carried aboard a mission called Deep Space 1, the first flight in
NASA's New Millennium Program.
Scheduled for launch in July 1998, Deep Space 1 (DS1) is
intended to validate advanced instrument and spacecraft systems
technologies required for low-cost space science missions. The
spacecraft will conduct flybys of an asteroid, a comet and Mars.
DS1 science investigation proposals were evaluated on the basis
of their scientific ideas, and the unique theoretical and
analytical capabilities that they would bring to bear in meeting
the overall mission objectives and its cost constraints.
The selected scientists are:
- Frances Bagenal, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Daniel Boice, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX
- Daniel Britt, University of Arizona, Tucson
- Bonnie Buratti, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),
Pasadena, CA
- Jurgen Oberst, the German Aerospace Research
Establishment (DLR)
- Berlin Tobias Owen, University of Hawaii, Honolulu
- Laurence Soderblom, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ
- Alan Stern, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO
- Nicolas Thomas, Max-Planck-Institut fur Aeronomie,
Lindau, Germany
- David Young, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio
DS1's primary science goals include detailed studies of the
characteristics of the solar wind, the stream of charged
particles emitted by the Sun, and learning more about the
physical properties of the asteroid McAuliffe (January 1999
flyby) and Comet P/West-Kohoutek-Ikemura (June 2000), including
the comet's nucleus and its plasma properties.
The DS1 spacecraft science instrument package has two main
components. The Miniature Integrated Camera Spectrometer (MICAS)
encompasses a camera, an ultraviolet imaging spectrometer and an
infrared imaging spectrometer, all within one 12-kilogram (26-
pound) package. The Plasma Experiment for Planetary Exploration
(PEPE) combines multiple instruments into one compact six-
kilogram (13-pound) package designed to determine the three-
dimensional distribution of plasma, or electrically charged
particles, over its field of view. PEPE includes a very low-
power, low-mass micro-calorimeter to help understand plasma-
surface interactions and a plasma analyzer to identify the
individual molecules and atoms in the immediate vicinity of the
spacecraft that have been eroded off the surface of the asteroid
and the comet
"NASA could not have selected a better team of
investigators. The results of the DS1 investigations will make a
significant contribution to our understanding of the conditions
in the early Solar System," said Dr. Robert Nelson, the DS1
project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,
CA. "We will learn more about the material from which planets
condensed and life evolved. Ultimately, we will learn more about
ourselves."
The 12 advanced systems technologies to be validated by DS1
include solar electric propulsion, high-power solar concentrator
arrays, autonomous on-board optical navigation, and several
telecommunications and microelectronics devices.
"We are conducting science on Deep Space 1 in order to
demonstrate that the technologies being tested are compatible
with future science-focused missions and to take full advantage
of this rare opportunity to send a capable spacecraft to such
interesting solar system targets," explained Dr. Marc Rayman, DS1
Chief Mission Engineer at JPL.
Further information on DS1 is available on the Internet at
the following URL: http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds1/
The New Millennium Program is managed by JPL for the NASA
Office of Space Science in Washington, DC. JPL is a division of
the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA.
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