NASA Selects Explorer Mission of Opportunity Investigations
- From: baalke@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:58:06 -0700 (PDT)
June 20, 2008
Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@xxxxxxxx
CONTRACT RELEASE: C08-040
NASA SELECTS EXPLORER MISSION OF OPPORTUNITY INVESTIGATIONS
WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected two science proposals to be the
agency's next Explorer Program Mission of Opportunity investigations.
One activity will study black holes and other extreme environments in
the universe. The other will determine how the Earth's outer
atmosphere responds to external forces.
The first investigation will provide a U.S. science instrument to the
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's New exploration X-Ray Telescope,
or NeXT. The telescope, currently planned for launch in 2013, will
open a new observing window on X-rays and the study of astrophysical
phenomena. NASA's proposed funding for the instrument and operations
is $44 million.
The other investigation will fly an atmospheric remote sensing
instrument package aboard a yet-to-be-determined future commercial
satellite. The investigation initially will be funded at
approximately $250,000 for a concept study to aid in a NASA decision
on further development.
"These selections offer unique and cost-effective science
opportunities," said Charles Gay, deputy associate administrator for
NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "They expand NASA's
science through partnerships with international and commercial
organizations."
The two investigations were selected from among 17 proposals received
by NASA earlier this year. They were evaluated by peer reviewers. The
selected proposals are:
-- High-Resolution Soft X-Ray Spectrometer (SXS) for NEXT, Principal
Investigator Richard L. Kelley, Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt Md. The SXS will probe matter in extreme environments;
investigate the nature of dark matter on large scales in the
universe; and explore how galaxies and clusters of galaxies form and
evolve.
-- Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD), Principal
Investigator Richard Eastes, University of Central Florida, Orlando,
Fla. GOLD will increase our understanding of the temperature and
composition in the ionosphere; and provide understanding of the
global scale response of the Earth's thermosphere and ionosphere.
NASA's Explorer Program is designed to provide frequent, low-cost
access to space for heliophysics and astrophysics missions with small
to mid-sized spacecraft. The program is managed by NASA's Goddard
Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., for NASA's Science Mission
Directorate.
For more information about the Explorer Program on the Internet,
visit:
http://explorers.gsfc.nasa.gov
-end-
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