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Lassojpl Takes on Key Role for Asteroid Redirect Pre-Project Jet MAY Propulsion 2014 Laboratory VOLUME 44 NUMBER 5 Space rock JPL takes on key role for asteroid redirect lasso pre-project By Mark Whalen Under one option, a robotic vehicle would descend to the surface of a large asteroid to collect a boulder that it can redirect to a distant retrograde lunar orbit. Under another option, the robotic spacecraft would use an inflatable bag to capture a small asteroid. NASA has designated JPL to be the pre-project lead Under the first option, the spacecraft would rendez- NASA’s Science Directorate will continue discovering of the robotic portion of its Asteroid Redirect Mission, a vous with an asteroid with a diameter of 10 meters or and studying potential candidate targets through the project designed to bring a small asteroid or part of an less, said Muirhead. “We will capture the body, which Near Earth Objects Observation Program, managed by asteroid into orbit around Earth’s moon as a target for may be a loosely held together rubble pile, in a bag. Don Yeomans at JPL. astronauts as a stepping-stone to Mars. After capture we will nudge it to change its trajectory, The pre-project team is also evaluating options to The initial segment of the Asteroid Redirect Robotic so that it will fly by the moon, where lunar gravity will demonstrate techniques for “planetary defense” to Mission is targeted for launch in June 2019. cause the asteroid and spacecraft to enter a very stable deflect asteroids that could threaten our planet. If approved, the robotic spacecraft would capture the retrograde orbit.” “We’re looking at how to demonstrate a couple of asteroid and fly with it as it returns to the Earth–moon The second option calls for extracting a boulder 2 to basic techniques that we could possibly use as part of system in mid-2020s. The crewed mission taking astro- 3 meters across from an asteroid about 100 meters in a strategy to deflect a potentially hazardous asteroid,” nauts to the asteroid for exploration and sampling could diameter, bringing it to the same lunar orbit. Either op- said Muirhead. launch as early as 2023. tion would allow astronauts aboard an Orion spacecraft Meanwhile, JPL’s development team is working risk- The robotic mission will use an advanced new ion to visit and study the body and return samples to Earth reduction tasks including building and testing a new propulsion system, first used on Deep Space 1 and laboratories. one-fifth-scale testbed of the capture bag system de- Dawn—but with much more power. “This is a 50-kilo- The asteroid initiative is a unique example of team- signed to work in Earth gravity as it would in space. watt system; Dawn is 10,” said JPL Chief Engineer work between NASA centers, Muirhead noted. Glenn Muirhead, who served as project manager of JPL’s Brian Muirhead, who is leading the effort. “We’re going Research Center is focusing on the solar electric propul- Mars Pathfinder and Deep Impact missions, is no to have a system that can make use of 10 tons of xenon sion module while Goddard Space Flight Center would stranger to NASA’s human spaceflight endeavors. He propellant; Dawn has about half a ton.” develop proximity operations sensors for the robotic was chief architect and program systems engineer for The JPL-led multi-center team is doing pre-formula- and crewed missions and provide robotic arms. JPL is the agency’s Constellation Program, which created the tion work in preparation for a mission concept review also working closely with Johnson Space Center, which architecture for a new human exploration spaceflight next February 2015, said Muirhead. The team is cur- leads NASA’s human exploration program, in defining system to the moon and beyond. rently defining and developing two different mission the interfaces for the crewed mission to develop a crew options. safe vehicle. 2 Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission moves forward NASA and the French space agency craft design and construction through niverse U Centre National d’Études Spatiales have launch, science operations and eventual agreed to jointly build, launch and oper- decommissioning. NASA will provide ate a spacecraft to conduct the first-ever the payload module, the Ka-band Radar global survey of Earth’s surface water Interferometer instrument, the micro- and to map ocean surface height with wave radiometer with its antenna, a unprecedented detail. laser retroreflector array, a GPS receiver NASA Administrator Charles Bolden payload, ground support and launch and French space agency President services. Jean-Yves Le Gall signed an agreement The French space agency will pro- May 2 to move from feasibility studies vide the spacecraft bus, the Ka-band to implementation of the Surface Water Radar Interferometer instrument’s ra- and Ocean Topography mission. JPL will dio frequency unit, the dual frequency manage the U.S. portion of the project. Ku/C-band nadir altimeter, the Doppler The two agencies plan to complete Orbitography and Radiopositioning Inte- preliminary design activities in 2016, grated by Satellite (DORIS) receiver pack- with launch planned in 2020. age, satellite command and control, and SWOT is one of the NASA missions data processing infrastructure. recommended in the National Research The mission will use wide-swath Council’s 2007 decadal survey of Earth altimetry technology to produce high- NASA / Bill Ingalls science priorities. The satellite will resolution elevation measurements of NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, left, and French space agency President Jean-Yves Le Gall sign an agreement to proceed to imple- survey 90 percent of the globe, study- the ocean surface and the surface of mentation of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission, slated to launch in 2020. JPL will manage the U.S. portion of the project. ing Earth’s lakes, rivers, reservoirs and lakes, reservoirs and wetlands. A more ocean to aid in freshwater management complete inventory of Earth’s lakes and 15 percent of lakes around the world are features that are key components of how around the world and improve ocean cir- the changing amount of water they hold currently measured from space. heat and carbon are exchanged between culation models and weather and climate will yield improved assessments of how The mission will be able to measure the ocean and atmosphere. predictions. climate-induced changes can impact the ocean’s surface with 10 times the For more information on the mission, This new agreement covers the entire freshwater resources worldwide. Only resolution of current technologies, which visit http://swot.jpl.nasa.gov. life cycle of the mission, from space- will allow scientists to study small-scale Sea level–change web portal on the way By Mark Whalen In response to critical needs to in- to policy makers and businesses, and to crease sea level–change research and other stakeholders,” said Boening. provide timely data to scientists and the “Our team aims to develop an immer- general public, JPL will develop a web sive and innovative web portal for sea portal that will serve as a “one-stop” level–change research that will address source for current information. the needs of these diverse audiences, The sea level–change portal was that will also serve as a focal point for awarded under a recent NASA Research research carried out under this opportu- Opportunities in Space and Earth Sci- nity, and that will deliver sea-level data ences call. Principal investigator is in innovative ways,” she added. Carmen Boening. Co-investigators are The portal will include interactive Andrew Bingham, Michael Greene, Ran- tools for accessing and viewing regional Sea Level Viewer 1.0, a feature of NASA’s Glocal Climate Change website, will be significantly updated and enhanced for the portal. dal Jackson, Amber Jenkins, Bill Patzert, data, a “virtual dashboard” of sea-level Laura Tenenbaum and Victor Zlotnicki. indicators, and ongoing updates through Portal team members also designed searches for sea-level data. The effort will “With increasing global temperatures a suite of editorial products that include and maintain NASA’s Global Climate also leverage resources such as the JPL warming the ocean and melting ice content articles, graphics, videos and Change website (http://climate.nasa. Physical Oceanography Distributed Active sheets and glaciers, there is an immedi- animations. By bridging gaps between gov), which enjoys a consistent top-four Archive Center. ate need both for accelerating sea level– various Earth science disciplines, the placing among Google searches, noted Web design, visualization and program- change research and for making this project aims to encompass the cross- Boening. That site is a strong model ming activities are underway this year for research accessible to scientists in dis- community needs in sea-level research for the new project, which is shooting the portal, which is scheduled to begin parate disciplines, to the general public not currently provided by existing web for a top-five ranking among Google operations in 2016. portals, said Boening. Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission moves forward Caring for a precious resource 3 By Mark Whalen Airborne Snow Observatory maps snowpack to aid water managers niverse U As California’s current drought condi- tions persist, water has become an ever more precious resource. A JPL mission flying over the Sierra Ne- vada mountain range is giving the state’s water resource managers a helping hand by assessing snowpack and the amount of water it holds. About 75 percent of the western United States’ freshwater supply comes from snowmelt. JPL’s Airborne Snow Observatory is in its second season of mapping. The current campaign over Yosemite National Park’s Tuolumne Basin observed significant changes in snowpack between flights near the Hetch Hetchy reservoir, which supplies water for the San Francisco area.
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