Posted: Thu, Jan 30, 2003, 2:18 PM ET (1918 GMT)
SpaceRef reported Wednesday that NASA will unveil plans next week for a new Jupiter orbiter mission that will use a nuclear-powered propulsion system under development. According to the report, NASA will announce the "Jupiter Tour" mission next Monday when it releases details about its proposed fiscal year 2004 budget. The mission, scheduled for launch around the end of this decade, would use a nuclear-powered propulsion system that would allow the spacecraft to move throughout the Jovian system, orbiting individual moons for weeks or months at a time. The spacecraft would use a propulsion system to be developed under Project Prometheus, NASA's upgraded nuclear program that was revealed earlier this month. The cost of the mission is estimated to be at least $3 billion through 2008. Although unclear from the report, it is likely that a Jupiter Tour mission would supercede plans for a Europa Orbiter mission that would only study Jupiter's icy moon Europa; the House of Representatives included funding to study the Europa Orbiter mission in its 2003 budget bill, but its status is uncertain as Congress has yet to approve a final version of the 2003 budget.

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