The past several years have been one of tremendous change in the Space Science program. The significant budget growth experienced from 1986 through 1991 was driven by the approval of several new large programs. Since 1992, the budget expectations for NASA budget have been reduced drastically, and has forced a major upheaval in all of the ongoing programs within the Space Science program, to rescope these activities to fit within a much tighter funding envelope. The Cassini mission to Saturn was restructured to significantly reduce the peak funding requirements and life cycle cost of the mission, but simplifying the spacecraft, reducing mission operations costs, and trimming science requirements. This changing environment has fundamentally altered the way the Space Science plans its missions.
Planning is now for smaller, less expensive missions requiring shorter development times.
The Mars Surveyor program, designed to achieve the lost Mars Observer science objectives, provides a more robust approach, distributing risk with two launches per opportunity using small orbiters to recover global orbital survey objectives and an evolutionary series of small, inexpensive landers to meet landed science objectives. Another key in adapting to this new environment has been to reengineer mission operations. The emphasis is on efficient, innovative approaches to achieve more autonomous, less labor-intensive operations. The key to a robust Space Science Program in the future is a major investment in new technologies to reduce launch costs through the reduction of spacecraft mass, and to reduce total life cycle costs through enhanced effectiveness. Investments in new technologies will permit major scientific advances to be made with smaller, more focused, and less costly missions.