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Technology Development
The exciting set of scientific goals outlined in this booklet will be made possible by a suite
of new power, communications, robotics, and instrumentation technologies that are cur-
rently being developed.
Electrical power is the most crucial factor in a spacecraft's operations. Today, spacecraft pro-
duce electricity with one of two technologies: solar panels or radioisotope power systems (RPSs).
Solar panels work well in the inner solar system, but as a spacecraft moves farther from the Sun
their utility decreases substantially due to the reduction in the intensity of sunlight. A spacecraft
requiring a 1-square-meter solar array to satisfy its power needs in Earth orbit would require 25-,
100-, and 1600-square-meter arrays to supply the same amount of power at Jupiter, Saturn, and
Pluto, respectively. An RPS enables a spacecraft to, for example, operate for long periods of time
in the region stretching from Jupiter and its moons to the far reaches of the Kuiper Belt. RPS tech-
nology was used on the Voyager missions, as well as on Viking, Galileo, and Cassini. Solar panels
and RPSs will both continue to be useful power-generating technologies in the next decade.
In the future, a nuclear reactor spacecraft electrical system will enable scientists to craft a
new generation of powerful instruments as well as to deploy advanced propulsion systems that
will decrease the amount of travel time needed to get to other bodies in the solar system.
Furthermore, these systems will enable spacecraft to sequentially orbit numerous solar system
objects, thereby improving on the current flyby method of investigation. NASA is currently
working on developing these systems, and the SSE Survey endorses these efforts.
Building on research and development done by other federal agencies, NASA is studying the
use of optical communications systems, which use laser light rather than radio waves to trans-
mit information. Optical communications will allow spacecraft to return more data than is cur-
rently possible, similar to the way broadband Internet connections enable faster communica-
tions than those possible with dial-up modem connections.
Our understanding of other places in the solar system will also be greatly enhanced by sam-
ple-return missions. In fact, three of the SSE Survey's recommended mission concepts involve
the return of samples. As planetary exploration moves forward, returning samples of the basic
"ingredients" that compose the solar system will become an integral element, providing a host
of new challenges on the ground. For example, Earth-based, state-of-the-art analytical capabili-
ties to study the returned samples must be developed. Instead of instruments for launch into
space, extremely capable and sophisticated instruments for use in Earth-based laboratories must
be developed to study and extract science information from the returned samples. A review of
the analytical capabilities for sample analysis has identified the need for developing new instru-
mentation and for upgrading U.S. laboratories. In addition, scientists and technicians must be
trained to handle samples and to use the new instruments to analyze them. Finally, facilities
must be built that will protect Earth's environment from possible contamination by the
returned samples, and vice versa.
Artist's conception of an advanced fupiter mission powered by a nuclear-electric propulsion system.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
solar panels
