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Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
96
SOLAR AND SPACE PHYSICS: A SCIENCE FOR A TECHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY
PI-led missions will let NASA’s Heliophysics Division continue the innovative and cost-effective scientific
spaceflight missions that are the hallmark of the Explorer program.
The survey committee recommends that the current Heliophysics Explorer program budget be augmented
by $70 million per year, in fiscal year 2012 dollars, restoring the option of Mid-size Explorer (MIDEX) missions and allowing them to be offered alternately with Small Explorer (SMEX) missions every 2 to 3 years.
NASA Missions of Opportunity
Fundamental science can be achieved at a fraction of the cost of stand-alone missions by hosting payloads through partnering with other agencies, nations, or commercial spaceflight providers. The Hinode
(Solar-B), TWINS, CINDI, and SNOE missions all demonstrate the benefits of such collaborations. The SolarC mission now confirmed by Japan is an example of a future opportunity for the United States to provide
instrumentation to a major foreign mission and in so doing to obtain high science return for relatively low
cost. (Solar-C is discussed in detail by the Panel on Solar and Heliospheric Physics in Chapter 10.)
NASA’s primary means of utilizing alternate platforms is via Missions of Opportunity and the current
Stand Alone Missions of Opportunities Notices (SALMONs). However, the challenge of multi-organization
coordination and the short time line for response to commercial opportunities call for a regular cadence
and an expeditious mission proposal, review, and selection process. The survey committee concluded
that a SALMON line needs to evolve in response to both community input and short-term opportunities
more rapidly than the cadence of decadal surveys or even that of larger Explorers (MIDEX and SMEX). It
needs to be flexible enough to allow proposal topics ranging from instruments on hosted payloads to a
university-class Explorer satellite.
The survey committee recommends that, as part of the augmented Explorer program, NASA should support regular selections of Missions of Opportunity, which will allow the research community to quickly
respond to opportunities and leverage limited resources with interagency, international, and commercial
partners.
Third Research Recommendation [R3.0] for NASA—Restructure SolarTerrestrial Probes as a Moderate-Scale, Principal-Investigator-Led Line
Initially conceived as a program to implement moderate-scale programs, the STP line has evolved into
a large-mission program, dominated by NASA centers, with cost growth over the past decade that threatens
its future viability. The survey committee concluded that restructuring the STP line is necessary if it is to
address heliophysics science goals cost-effectively and offer flight opportunities at an acceptable cadence.
STP as a Moderate-Scale Mission Line
The NASA Planetary Science Division has demonstrated success in implementing larger missions as
competed, cost-capped, PI-led investigations via the Discovery and New Frontiers programs. These are
managed in a manner similar to Explorers, and they have superior cost-performance histories relative to
those of flagship missions (see Appendix E, “Mission Development and Assessment Process”). Many of
the most important heliophysics science objectives are too challenging to be addressed even by MIDEX
Explorers but would fit within the cost profile of a moderate-scale mission.
The survey committee concluded that a successful moderate mission line has to include the following
elements:
Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
96
SOLAR AND SPACE PHYSICS: A SCIENCE FOR A TECHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY
PI-led missions will let NASA’s Heliophysics Division continue the innovative and cost-effective scientific
spaceflight missions that are the hallmark of the Explorer program.
The survey committee recommends that the current Heliophysics Explorer program budget be augmented
by $70 million per year, in fiscal year 2012 dollars, restoring the option of Mid-size Explorer (MIDEX) missions and allowing them to be offered alternately with Small Explorer (SMEX) missions every 2 to 3 years.
NASA Missions of Opportunity
Fundamental science can be achieved at a fraction of the cost of stand-alone missions by hosting payloads through partnering with other agencies, nations, or commercial spaceflight providers. The Hinode
(Solar-B), TWINS, CINDI, and SNOE missions all demonstrate the benefits of such collaborations. The SolarC mission now confirmed by Japan is an example of a future opportunity for the United States to provide
instrumentation to a major foreign mission and in so doing to obtain high science return for relatively low
cost. (Solar-C is discussed in detail by the Panel on Solar and Heliospheric Physics in Chapter 10.)
NASA’s primary means of utilizing alternate platforms is via Missions of Opportunity and the current
Stand Alone Missions of Opportunities Notices (SALMONs). However, the challenge of multi-organization
coordination and the short time line for response to commercial opportunities call for a regular cadence
and an expeditious mission proposal, review, and selection process. The survey committee concluded
that a SALMON line needs to evolve in response to both community input and short-term opportunities
more rapidly than the cadence of decadal surveys or even that of larger Explorers (MIDEX and SMEX). It
needs to be flexible enough to allow proposal topics ranging from instruments on hosted payloads to a
university-class Explorer satellite.
The survey committee recommends that, as part of the augmented Explorer program, NASA should support regular selections of Missions of Opportunity, which will allow the research community to quickly
respond to opportunities and leverage limited resources with interagency, international, and commercial
partners.
Third Research Recommendation [R3.0] for NASA—Restructure SolarTerrestrial Probes as a Moderate-Scale, Principal-Investigator-Led Line
Initially conceived as a program to implement moderate-scale programs, the STP line has evolved into
a large-mission program, dominated by NASA centers, with cost growth over the past decade that threatens
its future viability. The survey committee concluded that restructuring the STP line is necessary if it is to
address heliophysics science goals cost-effectively and offer flight opportunities at an acceptable cadence.
STP as a Moderate-Scale Mission Line
The NASA Planetary Science Division has demonstrated success in implementing larger missions as
competed, cost-capped, PI-led investigations via the Discovery and New Frontiers programs. These are
managed in a manner similar to Explorers, and they have superior cost-performance histories relative to
those of flagship missions (see Appendix E, “Mission Development and Assessment Process”). Many of
the most important heliophysics science objectives are too challenging to be addressed even by MIDEX
Explorers but would fit within the cost profile of a moderate-scale mission.
The survey committee concluded that a successful moderate mission line has to include the following
elements: