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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
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Pluto is the smallest, outermost and last-discovered planet in the Solar System and the only one that has never been visited by a spacecraft from Earth. Pluto and its relatively large satellite Charon are the destinations of a proposed spacecraft mission for the next decade, being developed for NASA by scientists and engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The Pluto Express power system must answer the challenge of the next generation spacecraft by reducing its power, mass, and volume envelopes. Technology developed by the New Millennium Program will enable the power system to meet the stringent requirements for the Pluto Express mission without exceeding the spacecraft mass and volume budgets.
Pluto, discovered in 1930, is the largest of a class of primordial bodies at the edge of our solar system that have comet-like properties and remain relatively unmodified by warming from the sun. It is the only planet in the solar system not explored via robotic spacecraft. This lecture discusses the status of the Pluto Express preproject (science objectives, etc.), and its telecommunication subsystem.
This is a brochure prepared for the Pluto Express mission.
The objective of this proposal was to mount a ground-based search for Kuiper Belt objects near the trajectory of the NASA Pluto Express spacecraft. The high density of Kuiper Belt objects established from work on Mauna Kea makes it probable that one or more bodies can be visited by Pluto Express after its encounter with Pluto. The work was funded during its first year through NASA HQ. The second year was funded through Goddard. The third year was never funded.
Over the last four years, The Pluto Express preproject was subjected to rapidly changing mission requirements due to budgetary and other societal pressures.
The science objective of this work is to identify objects in the Kuiper Belt which will, in the 5 years following Pluto encounter, be close to the flight path of NASA's Pluto Express. Our hope is that we will find a Kuiper Belt object or objects close enough that a spacecraft flyby will be possible. If we find a suitable object, the science yield of Pluto Express will be substantially enhanced. The density of objects in the Kuiper Belt is such that we are reasonably likely to find an object close enough to the flight path that on-board gas thrusters can effect a close encounter.
The science objective of this work was to identify objects in the Kuiper Belt which will, in the 5 years following Pluto encounter, be close to the flight path of NASA's Pluto-Kuiper Express. Currently, launch is scheduled for 2004 with a flight time of about 1 decade. Early identification of post-Pluto targets is important for mission design and orbit refinement. An object or objects close enough to the flight path can be visited and studied at high resolution, using only residual gas in the thrusters to affect a close encounter.
A number of mission system architectures have been studied for a Pluto flyby mission, with the goal of achieving the most cost effective means of meeting a well defined set of science and technology objectives. The results of this trade study have been coupled with a new development implementation approach to create a highly integrated concurrently engineered mission system called a
Missions to Pluto and the outer Solar System are typically driven by factors which tend to increase cost, such as: long life, high radiation exposure, a large power source, high (delta)V requirements, difficult telecommunications links, low solar illumination at the destination, and demanding science measurements. Advanced technology is a central part of responding to such challenges in a manner which permits the cost of development and operations to be an order of magnitude less than for prior outer planet missions...This paper summarizes the curent technology development plan which is tightly coupled to the New Millenium Program (NMP) Deep Space 1 technology validation flight. Specific details will be presented about advanced microelectronics technology.
An advanced power conversion technology in a small radioisotope
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
This paper summarizes part of a FY1998 effort on the design and development of an optical communications (Opcomm) subsystem for the Advanced Deep Space System Development (ADSSD) Project. This study was funded by the JPL X2000 program to develop an optical communications (Opcomm) subsystem for use in future planetary missions. The goal of this development effort was aimed at providing prototype hardware with the capability of performing uplink, downlink, and ranging functions from deep space distances. Such a system was envisioned to support future deep space missions in the Outer Planets/Solar Probe (OPSP) mission set such as the Pluto express and Europa orbiter by providing a significant enhancement of data return capability. A study effort was initiated to develop a flyable engineering model optical terminal to support the proposed Europa Orbiter mission - as either the prime telecom subsystem or for mission augmentation. The design concept was to extend the prototype lasercom terminal development effort currently conducted by JPL's Optical Communications Group. The subsystem would track the sun illuminated Earth at Europa and farther distances for pointing reference. During the course of the study, a number of challenging issues were found. These included thermo-mechanical distortion, straylight control, and pointing. This paper focuses on the pointing aspects required to locate and direct a laser beam from a spacecraft (S/C) near Jupiter to a receiving station on Earth.