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Assessment of Solar System Exploration Programs 1991 (Chapter 8)
Assessment of Solar System Exploration Programs
1991
8
International Cooperation in
Planetary Exploration Programs
COMPLEX strongly endorses the principle of international cooperation on
specific planetary missions as a means of enhancing the scientific output and of
reducing the cost to each party. Presidential endorsement of this view came in
February 1988 with the "Directive on National Space Policy," which stated that
"the United States will seek mutually beneficial international participation in its
space and space-related programs." In its 1990 Update to the Strategy for
Exploration of the Inner Planets (SSB, 1990b), the committee made the following
recommendations on international cooperation:
Selection of foreign scientists and experiments for U.S. missions
should be based strongly on scientific merit, and the free flow of scientific data
REPORT MENU
and results should be a necessary precondition for any cooperative
NOTICE
arrangements.
MEMBERSHIP
FOREWORD
SUMMARY NASA should consider all appropriate foreign capabilities available for
CHAPTER 1 planning and carrying out its missions and should cultivate those that enhance
CHAPTER 2 the scientific return.
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
NASA should fully involve the scientific community in planning for
CHAPTER 5
international cooperation and in assessment of proposed cooperative missions.
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8 Two other Space Studies Board publications have dealt with
CHAPTER 9
collaborations with Western Europe and the USSR, respectively, and some steps
REFERENCES
have been taken to implement their recommendations. These are discussed
below.
U.S.-EUROPEAN COOPERATION IN PLANETARY EXPLORATION
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Assessment of Solar System Exploration Programs 1991 (Chapter 8)
In 1986 the National Academy Press published United States and
Western Europe Cooperation in Planetary Exploration (SSB, 1986d), a report
written by the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Cooperation in Planetary
Exploration. The group was composed of scientists associated with the SSB and
with the Space Science Committee of the European Science Foundation. The
JWG concluded that planetary investigations continue to be among the most
intellectually challenging and important areas of basic scientific research. They
made specific recommendations for missions to be undertaken as cooperative
projects and their current status is summarized below.
Titan Probe and Saturn Orbiter
This project is now an approved joint NASA/European Space Agency
(ESA) mission known as Cassini. NASA is to provide a Mariner Mark II spacecraft
as the orbiter, while ESA will provide the probe. A joint Announcement of
Opportunity attracted over 200 proposals, and a set of investigations were
selected in the fall of 1990. The mission is planned for a 1995 launch.
Mars Surface Rover
This mission may be superseded by tentative plans to proceed directly to
a sample return mission, as part of which a rover would be used to survey the
surface and gather samples for return to Earth. Meanwhile, ESA has begun an
assessment study under the title "Isabella," which seeks to identify detailed
European contributions to a U.S. Mars rover/sample return and any
corresponding Soviet Mars missions. Areas being targeted by the Europeans
include orbiter instrumentation, Mars surface instruments, and an intelligent robot
arm for the rover.
Multiple Asteroid Orbiter
The proposed joint mission is not under study by either prospective
partner. Instead, interest has been focused on a Comet Nucleus-Sample Return
mission known as "Rosetta." This is now a core element of ESA's Space Science
Plan, "Horizon 2000," as a joint mission with NASA. Advance studies of
technology and experiments for this mission are being carried out at a low level,
but no launch date has yet been set.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION FOR MARS EXPLORATION
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Assessment of Solar System Exploration Programs 1991 (Chapter 8)
The SSB ad hoc Committee on Cooperative Mars Exploration and
Sample Return recently published International Cooperation for Mars Exploration
and Sample Return (SSB, 1990a). Its recommendations included the robotic
study of the Martian surface and sample return from several sites, to be
undertaken in an international program coordinated with the Soviet Union and
involving close cooperation with "traditional" partners in Western Europe.
Early progress on a small scale has included the provision on Mars
Observer of an antenna for tracking balloons to be delivered by the Soviet Mars-
94 mission, and participation by U.S. and European scientists in Phobos and
Mars-94. COMPLEX endorses further examination of Soviet involvement in the
Space Exploration Initiative.
Additional cooperation with other nations, especially Japan, also deserves
serious consideration. As a beginning, coordination between the proposed NASA
Lunar Observer and the Japanese Lunar Orbiter missions is under discussion.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
While strongly advocating international collaboration on large projects,
COMPLEX believes that such cooperation should not be entered into lightly.
Termination of collaborations before completion not only forfeits all the related
benefits, but can also have a chilling effect on future cooperation. The withdrawal
by the U.S. from the joint NASA/ESA International Solar Polar Mission and the
recent cancellation of the Omega-VIMS instrument for the Soviet Mars-94
mission are examples where substantial damage has been done. It is important,
therefore, that future efforts at collaboration be based on stronger commitments.
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