Dolores Beasley/Gretchen
Cook-Anderson
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone:
202/358-1753/0836)
|
Feb. 2, 2005 |
RELEASE: 05-037
| NASA Selects Moon Mapper for Mission of
Opportunity
NASA chose the
Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) to fly as part of the scientific
payload for the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO)
Chandraayan-1 mission, slated for launch in 2007. The M3 is
designed to create a mineral-resource map of the moon. It will
be flown as part of the Chandraayan-1 mission if it is
selected by ISRO in an independent competition.
"This
exciting scientific experiment will provide detailed maps of
the moon's surface geology and mineral composition for the
first time," said NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator of the
Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, Dr. Ghassem
Asrar. "The M3 investigation also complements the six
experiments recently selected by NASA in response to the Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Announcement of Opportunity.
Together, the M3 and LRO investigations support NASA research
and exploration objectives for the moon," he said.
The
principal investigator for M3 is Carle M. Pieters of Brown
University, Providence, R.I. The final confirmation of the M3
investigation is subject to successful negotiation of an
international agreement between NASA and ISRO.
Created
in 1992, NASA's Discovery Program sponsors frequent,
cost-capped solar system exploration missions with highly
focused scientific goals. In July 2004, NASA received 18
proposals in response to an Announcement of Opportunity for
Discovery missions and Missions of Opportunity. Proposals were
evaluated for scientific merit, technical, management and cost
feasibility. The M3 mission was proposed to the Discovery
Program as a Mission of Opportunity.
"We are looking
forward to the March release of the Discovery 12 Announcement
of Opportunity that will provide greater flexibility
commensurate with the technical complexities associated with
Discovery class experiments," said Andrew Dantzler, Acting
Director of NASA's Solar System Division. For information
about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/
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