Douglas Isbell
Headquarters, Washington, DC             February 28, 1995
(Phone: 202/358-1753)

RELEASE:  95-19

MISSIONS TO THE MOON, SUN, VENUS AND A COMET 
PICKED FOR DISCOVERY

     A mission to study the Moon has been selected for 
funding as part of NASA's Discovery Program, an on-going 
Agency effort to foster the development of frequent, low-
cost solar system exploration missions.  Missions to study 
the Sun, Venus and a comet also have been selected for 
further detailed study under the Discovery effort.

     The mission to the Moon, known as Lunar Prospector, 
was judged mature enough to proceed directly to full 
development and construction, following final technical 
definition.  Scheduled for launch in June 1997, the $59 
million project will map the chemical composition of the 
lunar surface and the Moon's global magnetic and gravity 
fields at a level of detail greater than that achieved by 
previous missions.  The mission also should locate any 
significant quantities of water ice in shadowed craters 
near the lunar poles, a key issue for any future human 
exploration.

     The other three Discovery missions will undergo 
detailed study for the next six to nine months, leading to 
a fall 1995 decision to pick one for development and 
flight.  They are: 

   Stardust, which would fly through the extended coma of 
the active comet P/Wild 2, taking images and returning a 
sample of its cometary dust to Earth laboratories;

   The Venus Multiprobe Mission, which would drop 16 small 
probes into the thick Venusian atmosphere to enable 
study of its unusual atmospheric circulation; and
 
   Suess-Urey, which would collect samples of solar 
particle matter streaming outward from the Sun and 
return it to Earth for laboratory study.



                               -more-
                                -2-

     "I am absolutely thrilled with the potential of these 
missions, and with the universally high quality of the 28 
proposals submitted to us," said NASA Administrator Daniel 
S. Goldin.  "The university and aerospace industry 
communities should be proud of their efforts, which 
represent a model of how to pursue scientifically first-
rate space exploration using small, advanced spacecraft."

     The Lunar Prospector will be built and launched on a 
Lockheed Launch Vehicle by Lockheed Missiles and Space Co., 
Sunnyvale, CA, under the direction of Principal 
Investigator Dr. Alan Binder of Lockheed.  NASA's Ames 
Research Center, Mountain View, CA, will be responsible for 
one of the spacecraft's instruments and technical support.

     The Suess-Urey team is led by Principal Investigator 
Dr. Donald Burnett of the California Institute of 
Technology Pasadena, CA, with Martin Marietta Astronautics 
of Denver, CO, as the contractor.  The Venus Multiprobe 
Mission team is led by Principal Investigator Dr. Richard 
Goody of Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, with Hughes 
Space and Communications Group, El Segundo, CA, as the 
industry contractor.  The Stardust team is led by Principal 
Investigator Dr. Donald Brownlee of the University of 
Washington in Seattle, with Martin Marietta as the 
contractor.  NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, 
CA, will provide project management for these three 
missions.

     "Discovery missions are far less expensive than any 
mission we have ever done in planetary exploration, yet 
they promise to deliver excellent science," said Dr. Wesley 
T. Huntress Jr., NASA Associate Administrator for Space 
Science.  "We've turned the old way of doing business 
upside down."
	
     Formally started in NASA's FY 1994 budget, the 
Discovery program features small planetary exploration 
spacecraft with focused science goals that can be built in 
36 months or less, for less than $150 million (FY92$), not 
including the cost of the launch vehicle.  The program grew 
out of discussions and workshops that NASA has held with 
the science community. 

     Stardust would be launched on a Med-Lite in February 
1999 for a total cost to NASA of $208 million.  The Venus 
Multiprobe Mission would be launched on a Delta II launch 
vehicle in June 1999 for a total cost to NASA of $202 
million. Suess-Urey would be launched on a NASA Med-Lite 
launch vehicle in August 1999 for a total mission cost to 
NASA of $214 million.  
 
     Twenty-eight formal proposals for the next Discovery 
missions were received by NASA in October 1994 in response 
to an August 1994 Announcement of Opportunity (see attached 
list).

     Two missions are already under development in the 
Discovery program:  the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous 
mission, scheduled for launch in February 1996 to orbit 
around the asteroid Eros beginning in January 1999; and 
Mars Pathfinder, a small surface lander and rover that will 
be launched to Mars in November 1996 and land in July 1997.  

     NASA officials hope to release Announcements of 
Opportunity for new Discovery investigations on the average 
of every 18 months.  The actual release dates depend on 
future approved NASA budgets and the size of previously 
selected missions.

                               -end-


PROPOSED MISSIONS

TITLE/TYPE                         PROPOSER/ORGANIZATION

ASTER- Asteroid Earth Return      Fanale, Fraser/Univ. Hawaii

Comet Nucleus Penetrator       Boynton. William/Univ. Arizona

Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR)         Veverka, Joseph/Cornell

Cometary Coma Chemical Composition (C4) Carle, Glenn/ARC

Diana  (Lunar & Cometary Mission)   Russell, Christopher/UCLA

FRESIP-A mission to Find the Frequency of    Borucki, 
                                          William J./ARC
     Earth-sized Inner Planets

Hermes Global Orbiter (Mercury Orbiter)   Nelson, Robert/JPL

Icy Moon Mission    (Lunar Orbiter)     Murray, Bruce/Caltech

Interlune-One (Lunar Rovers)    Schmitt, Harrison/Univ. Wisc.
     
Jovian Integrated Synoptic Telescope       Feldman, Paul/JHU
     (IO Torus investigation)

Lunar Discovery Orbiter       Boynton, William/Univ. Arizona

Lunar Prospector (Lunar Orbiter)     Binder, Alan B./Lockheed

Mainbelt Asteroid Exploration/Rendezvous   Veverka, 
                                        Joseph/Cornell

Mars Aerial Platform (Atmospheric)       Greeley, 
                                      Ronald/Arizona State

Mars Polar Pathfinder (Polar Lander)  Paige, David/UCLA

Mars Upper Atmosphere Dynamics,    Killeen, T/Univ. Michigan
     Energetics and Evolution

Mercury Polar Flyby                   Spudis, Paul/LPI

Near Earth Asteroid Returned Sample      Shoemaker, 
                                     Carolyn/No. Arizona

Origin of Asteroids, Comets and Life on Earth   Nozette, 
                                     Stewart/ Phillips Lab.

PELE: A Lunar Mission to Study Planetary    Taylor, G. 
                                        Jeffrey/Univ. HI
Volcanism 

Planetary Research Telescope           Broadfoot, A. 
                                     Lyle/Univ. Arizona

Rendezvous with a Comet  Nucleus (RECON)     Squyres,
                                           Steven/Cornell

Suess-Urey     (Solar Wind Sample Return)     Burnett, Donald
                                              S./Caltech

Small Missions to Asteroids and Comets       Belton, Michael/ 
                                                 Kitt Peak

Stardust  (Cometary/Interstellar dust return)      Brownlee,
                                           Donald E/Univ. WA

Venus Composition Probe   (Atmospheric)       Esposito,
                                         Larry/Univ. Colorado

Venus Environmental Satellite (Atmospheric)      Baines, 
                                              Kevin H./JPL

Venus Multi-Probe Mission (Atmospheric)    Goody, 
                                        Richard/Harvard

                      -end-



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