NASA | JPL-Caltech | 2019 Jun 20
NASA has selected three finalists among a dozen concepts for future small satellites. The finalists include a 2022 robotic mission to study two asteroid systems, twin spacecraft to study the effects of energetic particles around Mars, and a lunar orbiter to study water on the Moon. At least one of these missions is expected to move to final selection and flight. ...
Janus: Reconnaissance Missions to Binary Asteroids will study the formation and evolutionary implications for small “rubble pile” asteroids and build an accurate model of two binary asteroid bodies. A binary asteroid is a system of two asteroids orbiting their common center of mass. The principal investigator is Daniel Scheeres, University of Colorado. Lockheed Martin will provide project management.
Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE): This mission’s objective is to characterize (on multiple scales) the acceleration processes driving escape from Mars’ atmosphere, as well as how the atmosphere responds to the constant outflow of the solar wind flowing off the Sun. The principal investigator for this mission is Robert Lillis, University of California, Berkeley. UC Berkeley will also provide project management.
Lunar Trailblazer will directly detect and map water on the lunar surface to determine how its form, abundance, and location relate to geology. The principal investigator is Bethany Ehlmann, California Institute of Technology. The Jet Propulsion Lab will provide project management. ...
NASA Selects Caltech-Led Lunar Mission as a Finalist
California Institute of Technology | 2019 Jun 20