International Cooperation for Mars Exploration and Sample Return

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Space Studies Board 1. Introduction 2. General Considerations National Policy q The Status of the U.S. Program and Programs of Other Nations q The Environment for International Cooperation q 3. Intensive Investigations of Mars General Characterization of the Planet q The Scientific and Technical Character of Mars Exploration q 4. Possible Cooperative Mission Modes and Their Implications The Present State of U.S. Mars Investigations and Planning q Varieties of U.S.-USSR Cooperation q Independently Conducted Programs Split Responsibilities and Joint Technical Operations A Highly Coordinated Exploration Program 5. Summary and Concluding Recommendations Participation of Other Nations q Sample Return and Subsequent Scientific Analysis q References National Academy Press, 1990 Last update 9/18/00 at 1:46 pm Site managed by the SSB Web Group. To comment on this Web page or report an error, please send feedback to the Space Studies Board. Subscribe to e-newsletters | Feedback | Back to Top Copyright © 2004. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. 500 Fifth St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marscoopmenu.html (2 of 2) [6/18/2004 10:03:13 AM]

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marscoopnot Search: Jump to Top NewsJump to Science in the Subscribe to our FREE e- Headlines newsletter! NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL June 18, 2004 Current Operating Status Space Studies Board International Cooperation for Mars Exploration and Sample Return NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marscoopnot.html (1 of 2) [6/18/2004 10:03:18 AM]

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marscoopnot the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Samuel O. Thier is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council. Support for this project was provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Contract NASW 4102). Copies of this report are available from: Space Studies Board National Research Council 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20418 Printed in the United States of America Last update 9/5/00 at 2:06 pm Site managed by the SSB Web Group. To comment on this Web page or report an error, please send feedback to the Space Studies Board. Subscribe to e-newsletters | Feedback | Back to Top Copyright © 2004. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. 500 Fifth St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marscoopnot.html (2 of 2) [6/18/2004 10:03:18 AM]

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Space Studies Board LARRY W. ESPOSITO, University of Colorado JAMES P. FERRIS, Renssalear Polytechnic Institute HERBERT FRIEDMAN, Naval Research Laboratory RICHARD L. GARWIN, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center RICCARDO GIACCONI, Space Telescope Science Institute NOEL W. HINNERS, Martin Marietta Corporation JAMES R. HOUCK, Cornell University DAVID A. LANDGREBE, Purdue University JOHN W. LEIBACHER, National Solar Observatory ELLIOTT C. LEVINTHAL, Stanford University MICHAEL MENDILLO, Boston University WILLIAM J. MERRILL, JR., Texas A&M University RICHARD K. MOORE, University of Kansas ROBERT H. MOSER, NutraSweet Corporation NORMAN F. NESS, Bartol Research Institute MARCIA NEUGEBAUER, Jet Propulsion Laboratory JOSEPH M. REYNOLDS, Louisiana State University SALLY K. RIDE, California Space Institute ROBERT F. SEKERKA, Carnegie Mellon University MARK SETTLE, ARCO Oil and Gas Company L. DENNIS SMITH, University of California at Irvine BYRON D. TAPLEY, Center for Space Research DEAN P. KASTEL, Staff Director RICHARD C. HART, Acting Associate Staff Director JOYCE M. PURCELL, Staff Officer PAUL F. UHLIR, Staff Officer LINDA S. HERINGTON, Staff Associate CARMELA CHAMBERLAIN, Administrative Secretary MELANIE GREEN, Senior Secretary MARY ELLEN MACK, Senior Secretary ANN SACCOMANO, Administrative Secretary COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS, AND RESOURCES NORMAN HACKERMAN, Robert A. Welch Foundation, Chairman ROBERT C. BEARDSLEY, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute B. CLARK BURCHFIEL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology GEORGE F. CARRIER, Harvard University RALPH J. CICERONE, University of California at Irvine HERBERT D. DOAN, The Dow Chemical Company (retired) PETER S. EAGLESON, Massachusetts Institute of Technology DEAN E. EASTMAN, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center MARY ANNE FOX, University of Texas at Austin GERHART FRIEDLANDER, Brookhaven National Laboratory LAWRENCE W. FUNKHOUSER, Chevron Corporation (retired) PHILLIP A. GRIFFITHS, Duke University NEAL F. LANE, Rice University http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marscoopmem.html (2 of 3) [6/18/2004 10:03:23 AM]

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Space Studies Board CHRISTOPHER F. McKEE, University of California at Berkeley RICHARD S. NICHOLSON, American Association for the Advancement of Science JACK E. OLIVER, Cornell University JEREMIAH P. OSTRIKER, Princeton University Observatory PHILIP A. PALMER, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company FRANK L. PALMER, Vanderbilt University DENIS J. PRAGER, MacArthur Foundation DAVID M. RAUP, University of Chicago ROY F. SCHWITTERS, Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory LARRY L. SMARR, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign KARL K. TUREKIAN, Yale University MYRON F. UMAN, Acting Executive Director Last update 9/5/00 at 2:40 pm Site managed by the SSB Web Group. To comment on this Web page or report an error, please send feedback to the Space Studies Board. Subscribe to e-newsletters | Feedback | Back to Top Copyright © 2004. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. 500 Fifth St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marscoopmem.html (3 of 3) [6/18/2004 10:03:23 AM]

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Space Studies Board Search: Jump to Top NewsJump to Science in the Subscribe to our FREE e- Headlines newsletter! NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL June 18, 2004 Current Operating Status International Cooperation for Mars Exploration and Sample Return Executive Summary The goal of intensive Mars exploration by robotic systems coupled with the return to Earth of martian materials is one of historic proportions and is widely recognized as a premier objective of solar system investigation. The discoveries and understanding generated in such an endeavor will be of fundamental scientific importance in their own right and will be a focus of worldwide interest. The scientific results will be basic to further exploratory activity and technological developments. The National Research Council's Space Studies Board has previously recommended that the next major phase of Mars exploration for the United States involve detailed in situ investigations of the surface of Mars and the return to Earth for laboratory analysis of selected martian surface samples. 1 In addition, Mars exploration is of wide scientific and technical interest to several other nations. More recently, the European space science community has expressed general interest in the concept of cooperative Mars exploration and sample return. The USSR has now announced plans for a program of Mars exploration incorporating international cooperation. If the opportunity becomes available to participate in Mars exploration, interest is likely to emerge on the part of a number of other countries, including Japan and Canada, among others. The Space Studies Board's Committee on Cooperative Mars Exploration and Sample Return was asked by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to examine and report on the question of how Mars sample return missions might best be structured for effective implementation by NASA along with international partners. The committee examined alternatives ranging from scientific missions in which the United States would take a substantial lead, with international participation playing only an ancillary role, to missions in which international cooperation would be a basic part of the approach, with the international partners taking on comparably large mission responsibilities. On the basis of scientific strategies developed earlier http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marscoopes.html (1 of 9) [6/18/2004 10:03:29 AM]

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Space Studies Board by the Space Studies Board, the committee considered the scientific and technical basis of such collaboration and the most mutually beneficial arrangements for constructing successful cooperative missions. GENERAL PREMISES The committee's charge was to examine the opportunities and benefits of various approaches to international cooperation in Mars exploration as these derive from the scientific objectives. That examination requires certain assumptions about the quality and character of future U.S. and world space science. A large number of the developed nations have evinced interest in Mars exploration. However, as will be developed in this report, the committee noted that the United States and the USSR currently occupy special positions with respect to experience, capability, and commitment to intensive space exploration in general, and to Mars exploration in particular. For this reason, the committee concluded that the character of intensive Mars exploration will be determined by program commitments made in the United States and the USSR and that the participation of other nations will be shaped largely by opportunities deriving from those programs. Thus the level and the nature of U.S.-Soviet cooperation are critical elements that will determine the character of Mars exploration as well as its international aspects. Consequently, this report takes the potential and the problems of U.S.-Soviet cooperation as its primary, though not exclusive, focus. The response of this committee to its charge rests on premises of overall policy upon which the recommendations depend. The committee has summarized and briefly discussed these premises as follows: 1. There is a need for the United States to reestablish its leadership in some aspects of space science, including planetary exploration. At present, the architectural goals of the U.S. space science program require both definition and a firm plan for implementation. The committee assumes, for the purpose of this report, that the United States will carry forward a vigorous national space science program of high quality. This program is assumed to include international participation and cooperation as enunciated in the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 and in the 1988 "Presidential Directive on National Space poliey." 2,3 2. Mars is an appropriate focus of a program that supports intensive scientific investigation of our solar system, with the goal of developing our understanding of the evolution of the terrestrial planets. The Space Studies Board has defined Mars as the key immediate objective of this effort because the evolutionary track that Mars has followed, while clearly divergent from the Earth's, has still produced some remarkable similarities in the two planets. Moreover, by virtue of its proximity and environment, Mars is unusually accessible to the intensive scientific investigations that are required to address these questions of terrestrial planet science. 3. The nation or group of nations that makes the necessary commitment to http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marscoopes.html (2 of 9) [6/18/2004 10:03:29 AM]

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Space Studies Board intensive Mars exploration with sample return will create a focus of intense international attention and interest, both scientifically and in the public at large. The principal nations involved will thus play a leading role in space science activities and technological development for at least a decade. SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL PREMISES In formulating recommendations, the committee took careful note of the breadth and intensity of the investigations that will be needed to accomplish the Mars scientific objectives. The motivation for intensive scientific exploration of Mars is to understand that planet at a level that will allow important questions to be answered about the planet's history and evolution and about the character and stability of its environment. In some respects, the character of the questions that we seek to answer in exploring Mars is similar to the character of questions that we address in studies of Earth. To achieve these scientific goals, it will be necessary to conduct a sequence of missions to Mars that involve both in situ investigations and sample return. The committee envisions that a first phase of such detailed Mars investigations should entail several missions, conducted over a number of years, to a set of selected, diverse sites. Such a program would provide a major increment of knowledge about the planet Mars and about the states and evolutions of terrestrial planets in general. It would also provide the basis of fact that is needed to inform future decisions about further levels of Mars investigation, including the potential for human exploration of that planet. This breadth and character of Mars exploration, as they are dictated by the scientific objectives, provide the framework of anticipated exploratory and scientific endeavors on Mars that should be the focus of cooperative international activity. Certain technical issues also enter into determining the most effective approach to international cooperation in the exploration of Mars. Cooperation between two or more independent technical organizations involves costs as well as benefits. The magnitude of the costs is especially dependent on the character of the technical and management interfaces involved. The costs of a major joint undertaking are also highly susceptible to variations on the existence of stable long-term working relationships, an established means of communication, and mutual understanding about the partner's institutions. The committee's recommendations attempt to balance the benefits and the costs of cooperation, within the specific framework of the required scientific and technical activities, and to provide a path along which relationships can be built that can lead to closer cooperation in the future. However, it is also recognized that decisions to undertake Cooperative programs may be based on other national policy considerations and social motivations. Such an approach could dictate more intimate cooperation from the beginning to achieve objectives connected with demonstrating the ability of the United States and the USSR to cooperate. Thus the need to establish cooperative relationships and understanding might be seen as a net benefit rather than a net cost. Such an expansion of the initial cooperation would not be inconsistent with the committee's recommendations, but rather would constitute an acceleration of the recommended, longer-term evolution of the cooperative relationship. This issue lies http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marscoopes.html (3 of 9) [6/18/2004 10:03:29 AM]

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Space Studies Board in the realm of U.S. national policies that are outside the purview of this report. GENERAL BACKGROUND The accomplishments of the 1976 U.S. Viking mission generated a major advance in the study of Mars. The further commitment of the United States to the 1992 Mars Observer mission represents a logical next step in a Mars exploration program. Beyond Mars Observer, the United States has announced no specific plans for defining and implementing a strategy for continuing intensive exploration of Mars. There exists a clear need for the United States to reestablish vigorous leadership in crucial aspects of space science, including planetary exploration. A commitment to leading participation in a multinational program of Mars investigation would meet this need and would be in full consonance with the 1988 "Presidential Directive." 3 Intensive Mars exploration is an appropriate focus of international scientific cooperation. The breadth and significance of the scientific problems to be investigated on Mars—as well as the expected expansion of knowledge about terrestrial planets in general, including Earth—make Mars investigations of deep and persistent interest to a broad, international community of scientists. The scope of investigations and operations needed to explore Mars provides a rich opportunity for a variety of missions that can fruitfully involve all of the interested nations and space agencies. The number of missions required to survey and sample an appropriate diversity of sites on Mars means that substantial economies can be realized by combining the resources of several nations in a joint program of the highest quality and productivity. The intrinsic significance of Mars exploration and sample return has evoked a major announced activity within the Soviet Union to aggressively pursue the scientific exploration of Mars; the first mission in this long-term Soviet endeavor was the 1988 Phobos mission, which, however, did not achieve all of its scientific objectives. Establishment of a multinational Mars exploration program will demand effective international cooperation and commitment to the longevity of that cooperation. There is a tradition of cooperation between the United States and European scientific and industrial communities. This relationship has been highly synergistic. Continuing such relationships in the context of international investigation of Mars, with full appreciation and respect for the scientific and technological maturity of European space science and for the potential importance of European contributions to such a program, would represent a natural and mutually beneficial evolution of past and present associations. It is important in this context to recognize that the European scientific community has become increasingly involved in Soviet space programs as U.S. launch opportunities and space science programs have diminished and as USSR programs have increasingly encouraged participation by Western nations. This trend is likely to continue; the European nations and scientific communities have important interests of their own and should be expected to pursue these interests by the most effective means available to them. http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marscoopes.html (4 of 9) [6/18/2004 10:03:29 AM]

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Space Studies Board At least three space agencies—those of the United States, the USSR, and the European community—are capable of planning and executing ambitious planetary exploration programs. A larger number of nations and space agencies are eager to participate in the scientific and technical opportunities offered by these three agencies. High interest has been shown by several European nations, and by the European Space Agency, in participating in Mars exploration; there is the possibility, in the context of an exciting international opportunity for Mars exploration, that many other nations will wish to participate, including Japan and Canada, among others. Although many nations have a broad interest in Mars exploration, the United States and the USSR will play unique roles in any comprehensive international Mars initiative because of their historic commitments to space exploration and because of their launch capabilities and their established scientific and technical infrastructures for planetary exploration. The United States and the USSR are the only nations currently in a position to take on the lead role in a major Mars program that includes surface exploration of the planet and sample return. Therefore, the committee has assumed that the gross structure of any intensive Mars exploration program will be determined by policy and programmatic decisions made in the United States and the USSR and that, for at least the next decade, the opportunities for other nations to participate in intensive Mars exploration will depend on the programs undertaken by the United States and the USSR. It is for that reason that the present report focuses primarily on the possibility of U.S.- USSR cooperation and on the question of how best to achieve the potential of such cooperation. This focus is not intended to underestimate the importance of participation by other nations and space agencies. The highly developed scientific and technical talents and capacities that exist in these nations would render their participation extremely valuable and important. There is little precedent for long-term or close cooperation between the United States and the USSR in major space endeavors. However, one cooperative mission (Apollo-Soyuz) has been carried out, and mechanisms of scientific exchange have been increasing regularly to the point that longer-term plans and mission possibilities are now exchanged. The exchange of scientific and technical data during and, after missions has become increasingly common. In addition, there have been instances of limited cooperation and technical interchange in space projects. There is no compelling constraint, at the scientific level of consideration, on the expansion of existing relationships between the two nations, or on the creation and formalization of those new modes of interaction that would be needed to implement a cooperative program of Mars exploration. However, a prudent approach would be to begin cooperating in activities that are especially resilient to unforeseen technical and nontechnical problems, and to anticipate building closer kinds of future cooperation on the basis of accumulated success and experience. Considering the complexity of such an enterprise, a time scale of perhaps a decade may be required to achieve this goal. The committee assessed a range of possible approaches to U.S.-USSR cooperation in the exploration of Mars. The approaches considered have been http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marscoopes.html (5 of 9) [6/18/2004 10:03:29 AM]

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Space Studies Board divided into three general categories: Independently conducted programs. In this approach, there would be q essentially no significant level of cooperation. Each side would plan and conduct its own program. Opportunities that might fortuitously arise would be candidates for possible low-level cooperative activities. But the planning for such opportunities would not play a major role in the shaping of either nation's program. This approach would continue the status quo. Split responsibilities and joint technical operations. This is the most q ambitious approach insofar as international cooperation is concerned. The two sides would divide specific technical responsibilities in the context of missions that would be conducted jointly. The dependence of each side on the other and the intimacy of the technical interfaces would be maximized in this approach. The success of each mission would hinge on the success of the interaction. A highly coordinated exploration program. In this approach, the two sides q would define, plan, and carry out a joint program of Mars exploration and sample return. The program—extending over a period of years—would consist of a sequence of highly coordinated missions, carried out in pairs, one mission by each side. Each mission could largely succeed without depending on its counterpart„ but the success of the overall program would depend on the overall success of the cooperation and the contributions of the two sides. The committee considers that the best approach to carrying out cooperative exploration of the planet Mars would strike a balance between very close cooperation that involved division of responsibility and joint technical operations, and independent, nearly noninteracting programs. Insofar as the major participants would be the United States and the USSR, the committee recommends an approach in which the two nations initially would agree to carry out a highly coordinated program of intensive Mars exploration and sample return, consisting of independently conducted missions. The two sides would work together at all levels, from the initial planning of scientific objectives, experimental approaches, principles of sample collection, and site selection. However, in the early stages, the two sides would conduct their own self-contained and independently designed missions, with specific interaction at Mars limited to the coordination of networked investigations, where that is beneficial, and to mutual support and backup of communications and data telemetry. The exchange of instruments and scientific investigators would be encouraged in cases where it would be beneficial. An important element in the planning of this program would be to provide opportunities for participation by other interested nations. RECOMMENDATIONS In analyzing the possibilities for international cooperation in Mars exploration and sample return, the committee identified both substantial benefits and potential http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marscoopes.html (6 of 9) [6/18/2004 10:03:29 AM]

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Space Studies Board costs. Mars presents a large and complex system and poses planetary-scale scientific questions, obtaining the answers to which will require an ambitious program of in situ investigations and sample return. The scale of needed Mars investigation is such as to make it desirable to combine the resources of the world's major spacefaring nations in this scientific, exploratory, and technical endeavor of historic proportions. 1. It is recognized that the United States must be selective in its objectives in space exploration. Because of the importance of a Mars program in terms of the quality and significance of the scientific objectives, the prestige and scientific importance associated with the return of the martian materials, and the substantial implications for new technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence, this committee concurs with previous recommendations of the Space Studies Board and recommends that the vigorous scientific exploration of Mars with the return of martian materials be a prominent part of the U.S. national space science program and part of a continuing balanced exploration of the solar system. 2. 7b answer fundamental questions related to the origin and evolution of the terrestrial planets requires a coherent program of excursions to the surface of Mars. The committee recommends robotic study of the martian surface and the return of martian materials from several diverse sites, ranging from equatorial to polar, in order to understand the rich diversity of martian processes These excursions will require extended and advanced robotic mobility, robotic manipulative capability, and on-board artificial intelligence in order to adequately study, sample, and return selected materials from the various sites and to conduct scientific measurements and experiments on the surface. 3. The committee recommends that intensive Mars exploration be undertaken initially in an international program coordinated with the Soviet Union. Longer-term evolution of joint activities with the USSR, based on accumulated experience and success along with lines of communication and working relationships that would be created, may lead to a more intensively cooperative and mutually dependent program in the future. 4. The United States should develop the capability to undertake several of these excursions independent of the performance of the USSR. Within the context of the recommended cooperative international program, the committee recommends that the actual design of spacecraft hardware and conduct of early missions be carried out independently and in parallel by the two nations. The committee further recommends that the United States and the USSR cooperate to identify the scientific objectives of their programs and to coordinate mission planning in detail to optimize the scientific return of the missions. The commitment to cooperation in such a program should be announced jointly by the United States and the USSR to make it clear that the two parties are major collaborators. The committee recommends that nonmission-critical hardware, such as individual scientific experiments, be considered for inclusion on the spacecraft of the other nation when there is a distinct scientific or performance advantage. The evolution of these working relationships may grow to a point that more complex interdependent http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marscoopes.html (7 of 9) [6/18/2004 10:03:29 AM]

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Space Studies Board missions can be considered. 5. The returned martian samples will be of utmost scientific importance and will have immense prestige associated with them. The control, care, and distribution of these materials will be under the jurisdiction of the nation returning the samples, but the committee recommends that there be a commitment to a joint scientific research program with the USSR that will provide these materials to quakfied scientists throughout the world. The interchange of scientific information and close collaboration on all aspects of the science derived from these missions should be intrinsic and continuing components of the program, from its inception through the advanced stages of scientific analysis. 6. The committee recommends that the United States encourage close cooperation with its more traditional scientific collaborators following the mechanisms that are already established. The U.S. program will make use of the knowledge of these collaborators in determining scientific mission objectives and in contributing to mission design. The committee recommends that this cooperation also allow the traditional collaborators to provide mission-critical subsystems as well as scientific packages when there is a distinct benefit to the program. Such a substantial commitment among nations may require an improved mechanism for ensuring the needed long-term commitments to approved missions or programs. CONSEQUENCES If the committee's recommendations are carried out, several prominent consequences will ensue. The United States will have reestablished a role of international q leadership in space science in the context of a new and constructive cooperation with the world's major spacefaring nations. A very-high-priority scientific goal will have been accomplished through q international effort, thus advancing the state of knowledge about Earth- like planets. Altogether, the recommended approach would allow a rapid start on international cooperation for Mars q exploration and sample return; would yield substantial economies in the context of a program that q realized the recommended science objectives for Mars investigations; would aid in defining launch capabilities required for deep-space q exploration; would allow a graceful path to increasingly close levels of cooperation q with the Soviet Union as experience is gained and as the international situation might permit and make desirable; and could be implemented now without undue concern for technology q transfer or extraordinary burdens associated with interfacing and http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marscoopes.html (8 of 9) [6/18/2004 10:03:29 AM]

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Space Studies Board integration across unfamiliar international boundaries. Last update 9/5/00 at 3:19 pm Site managed by the SSB Web Group. To comment on this Web page or report an error, please send feedback to the Space Studies Board. Subscribe to e-newsletters | Feedback | Back to Top Copyright © 2004. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. 500 Fifth St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marscoopes.html (9 of 9) [6/18/2004 10:03:29 AM]

Table of Contents

Front Matter R1-R16

1 Introduction 1-4

2 General Considerations 5-11

3 Intensive Investigations of Mars 12-15

4 Possible Cooperative Mission Modes and Their Implications 16-25

5 Summary and Concluding Recommendations 26-30

References 31-32