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Lessons Learned from the Clementine Mission (1997) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
Pages 3-6

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From page 3...
... was quite unusual by recent NASA standards: the mission objectives were primarily technological with secondary but significant science goals; the mission's definition and development were completed on a speedy schedule toward a fixed launch date; the project team was small, as was the BMDO program management staff; and fiscal resources were limited, but the team had access to a large pool of newly developed spacecraft technologies and in-place contracts. Clementine occurred during the period when NASA was shifting its program toward "smaller, cheaper, faster" missions, such as those in the Discovery and MidEx programs, that are intended to have many of the characteristics of the BMDO mission.
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From page 4...
... Of particular note was an innovative approach to mission operations and data handling, characterized by the intimate involvement of the science team in the day-to-day, indeed hour-to-hour, operation and planning of the science observations. The spacecraft was designed, built, tested, launched, and operated for a reported cost of about $80 million ($9 million for spacecraft systems, $8 million for instruments, $38 million for spacecraft integration, $20 million for the launch vehicle, and $5 million for operations; see Table 1.1~.6 The spacecraft, whose characteristics are summarized in Box 1.1, was launched on January 25, 1994 (by a refurbished Titan IIG ICBM)
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From page 5...
... SOURCE: As supplied to COMPLEX by Paul Regeon, Clementine's program manager at the Naval Research Laboratory.
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From page 6...
... 2. Space Studies Board, National Research Council, An Integrated Strategy for the Planetary Sciences: 1995-2010, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1994, page 186.
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Key Terms

  • space studies
  • lunar exploration
  • clementine mission
  • integrated strategy
  • science community

  • management style
  • planetary science
  • fiscal resources
  • specific science
  • clementine laser

  • direct competition
  • management staff
  • innovative approach
  • gravitational field
  • autonomous operation

  • titan iig
  • establish lines
  • bmdo program
  • scientific results
  • million digital

  • discovery program
  • missions remains
  • dollar spent
  • streamlined management
  • infrared wavelengths

  • exploration science
  • activities match
  • traditional nasa
  • autonomous navigation
  • leisurely pace


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