NASA Advisory Council Recommendation 

Technology Infusion in Small to Medium Class Science Missions 

2014-0~-04 (TIEC-01) 

Recommendation: 

The Council recommends that the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Associate 

Administrator and Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Associate Administrator engage with 

each other and their communities to determine how policies and procedures could be modified to 

allow the infusion of new mission-enabling and mission-enhancing technologies developed by 

Principal Investigators, STMD or others in small to medium class missions. Once appropriate 

policies and procedures have been defined, formulate an implementation plan that assures that 

the selection decision process is consistent with those policies and procedures. 

Major Reasons for the Re~ommendation: 

In highly competitive program solicitations, such as Discovery and Explorer, there is a 

disincentive to propose new technology because of the perceived risk. As a result, NASA may be 

missing an opportunity to leverage scientifically beneficial technology through small and 

medium science missions. In the long-term, this could erode NASA's scientific and technical 

capabilities. If the Agency wants to encourage and infuse appropriate new technologies in its 

small and medium class missions, it must develop a policy that provides a pathway to the 

inclusion of these technologies in the solicitation release. 

Consequences of No Action on the Recommendation: 

Erosion of NASA's science and technical capabilities. 

NASA Response: 

Although we understand and agree with its intent, NASA does not concur with the specificity of 

this recommendation. We believe the current policies, plans, and implementation strategies 

provide deliberate pathways for the inclusion of new and innovative technology for all mission 

classes. SMD and STMD work closely on technology investments for future missions through 

both competitive and strategic initiatives. In addition, SMD has specific technology programs in 

each of its science divisions that are funded through competitive solicitations to advance 

technology for future missions. SMD and STMD welcome the opportunity to brief the 

comn'l.ittees jointly or separately on the current policies and procedures that already support an 

aggressive effort for technology infusion activities into SMD's programs. The following 

elaborates in more detail the extent of current SMD technology investment activities within the 

Directorate and with other external partners. 

In recent years SMD has increased its technology investments and its collaboration with STMD 

to help facilitate infusions of new, mission-enabling and mission-enhancing technologies for 

small- to medium-class missions. The Agency believes these actions have addressed many of 

the concerns raised by the Council. NASA believes its current policies on Discovery and 

Enclosure 2 
Explorer solicitations and selection adequately allow for the infusion of new technology and 

acceptance of associated risks at a level commensurate with the nature of those programs. The 

following are examples of technology infusion in recent Discovery and Explorer solicitations, as 

well as other efforts. 

In Planetary Science, the 2010 Discovery solicitation included incentives to infuse advanced 

capabilities such as the NASA Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) and the Advanced Stirling 

Radioisotope Generator (ASRG), and nearly 40% of the proposals received included at least one 

of the incentivized technologies. The Discovery 20 14 solicitation is explicitly encouraging the 

use of new, mature technologies that have not yet been demonstrated in flight. Discovery is 

leveraging the STMD Technology Demonstration Mission (TDM) program offering cost cap 

incentives for the Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) system, the Deep Space Atomic 

Clock (DSAC), and the Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET). 

NEXT Thrusters and DSOC are being offered as Government-Furnished Equipment (GFE) to 

proposal teams, with any technical risk for readiness borne by NASA. Advanced Solar Arrays 

and Green Propellant technologies are being treated as mature commercial technology from 

proven vendors for purposes of proposal evaluation. Proposers will also be invited to include 

highly innovative technology demonstrations that will not add penalties for inherent technical 

risks. On the instrument side for competed missions nearly all the instrumentation leverages new 

technology. First and foremost missions are judged by the science merit of the measurements 

and investigations. Often the most compelling science requires, and we select, innovative 

technology to make the measurements. For example, on the Mars 2020 rover most if not all of 

the instruments will be flying new and compelling technology, i.e. Raman spectroscopy flying 

for the first time on a Mars mission. 

Similarly in the Astrophysics and Heliophysics Divisions, the Explorers program benefits from 

an effective technology value chain that identifies technology gaps, mitigates those gaps through 

technology development solicitations, and subsequently makes use of suborbital experiments to 

mature technologies in preparation for use on Explorer-class missions. The Astrophysics 

Division is also partnering with STMD to invest in and infuse targeted technologies, including 

the Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets (AFTA) coronagraph, thin-film physics/optical 

coatings, and others. Successful technology infusions include the development of a 

superconducting bolometer that was deployed on the second Background Imaging of Cosmic 

Extragalactic Polarization (BICEP2) experiment in Antarctica, and the.REgolith X-ray Imaging 

Spectrometer (REXIS) instrument scheduled to fly on the rigins- pe tral InterpretationResourc~ Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) mission is making use of 

technology developed through earlier Astrophysics technology solicitations. The slumped-glass 

mirror segments for the Nuclear Spe troscopi~ Telescope Array (NuSTAR) Explorer mission 

were made possible through technology investments under the Physics of the Cosmos program. 

In Heliophysics, the legacy Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) 

and the EUV Variability Experiment on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO-EVE) both made 

extensive use of suborbital assets to raise their instrument Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 

and retire risk. More recently the Heliophysics Low-Cost Access to Space (LCAS) program 

solicited the Heliophysics Technology and Instrument Development for Science (H-TIDeS) for 

science and/or technology investigations on suborbital or CubeSat platforms and state-of-the-art 

instrument technology development specifically for infusion on future missions. 
In the Earth Science Division, the Earth System Science Pathfmder (ESSP) program has 

accommodated innovative, science-focused, low-to-moderate cost, small-to-medium sized 

missions. Current investments include the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 

(CYGNSS), which will capture surface wind measurements from an unprecedented constellation 

of eight small satellites, and the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation Lidar (GEDI), which 

will provide global high resolution observations of forest vertical structure. ESSP is also 

investing in technology maturation for a mission that will capture the time evolution of 

precipitation through a constellation of CubeSats. The Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) 

regularly invests in mid-TRL technologies by aligning its portfolio of technology projects with 

future mission and measurement requirements. Since 1998 nearly 50 new instrument, 

component, or information technologies have been infused across multiple spacecraft missions. 

The ESTO annual reports (available at http://esto.nasa.gov/about_ esto.html) are annual 

summaries of recent technology development efforts and their infusion into NASA missions. 

NASA agrees that a proactive focus on technology development and demonstration is of critical 

importance, which is why our existing planning and policies specifically encourage innovation in 

our competed missions. We will continue to work within the existing framework to explore 

additional constructive opportunities within our respective budget constraints. Furthermore, 

NASA welcomes additional discussion on this topic that might further refine the existing policies 

and procedures. SMD and STMD welcome the opportunity to briefthe committees jointly or 

separately on the current policies and procedures that already support an aggressive effort for 

technology infusion activities into SMD's programs, which if timed appropriately, could include 

the results of the 2014 Discovery solicitation and its pathfmder approach to infuse mature, yet 

un-flown technology into new missions.