NASA selects Pluto mission design
Posted: Thu, Nov 29, 2001, 9:39 PM ET (0239 GMT)
NASA announced late Thursday that it has selected a design for a spacecraft mission to Pluto for further study, but cautioned that funding for such a mission is not guaranteed. NASA selected the "New Horizons" mission proposal, written by a team led by longtime Pluto mission advocate Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute. New Horizons was one of two proposals selected by NASA earlier this year for a three-month "Phase A" mission study. The proposal will now undergo a "Phase B" study to ensure the risks associated with the mission, including the ability to obtain a RTG to power the spacecraft, can be overcome. Also, NASA said that additional funding for the mission must be available for the program to proceed beyond Phase B. Congress appropriated $30 million for fiscal year 2002 for a Pluto mission, over objections of the Bush Administration, who wanted to kill the mission, but there is no funding for the mission in proposed budgets in later years.
NASA announced late Thursday that it has selected a design for a spacecraft mission to Pluto for further study, but cautioned that funding for such a mission is not guaranteed. NASA selected the "New Horizons" mission proposal, written by a team led by longtime Pluto mission advocate Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute. New Horizons was one of two proposals selected by NASA earlier this year for a three-month "Phase A" mission study. The proposal will now undergo a "Phase B" study to ensure the risks associated with the mission, including the ability to obtain a RTG to power the spacecraft, can be overcome. Also, NASA said that additional funding for the mission must be available for the program to proceed beyond Phase B. Congress appropriated $30 million for fiscal year 2002 for a Pluto mission, over objections of the Bush Administration, who wanted to kill the mission, but there is no funding for the mission in proposed budgets in later years.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Tuesday, January 13
SpaceX successfully launches 29 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral
WESH-TV Orlando — 6:23 am ET (1123 GMT) Groton fuel cell company clears key test for NASA moon missions
Hartford (CT) Business Journal — 6:17 am ET (1117 GMT) Türkiye’s space tech company Plan-S expands satellite constellation to 16 with new SpaceX launch
Turkiye Today — 6:15 am ET (1115 GMT) SpaceX Sweeps Another Round of Space Force’s More Commercial-Like Launch Orders
Air and Space Forces Magazine — 6:14 am ET (1114 GMT) SpaceX Rideshare Launches Kepler’s Initial Data Relay Sats
Aviation Week — 6:14 am ET (1114 GMT) |
