Discovery

From the early sixties through the late 80's, NASA's planetary spacecraft became larger, more sophisticated, and more expensive to build. However, the end of the Cold War and reduced NASA budgets in the '90s forced a change in the size and scope of new planetry missions. The Discovery program represents the implementation of NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin's desire to build "Faster, Better, Cheaper" missions. The goal is to launch many, smaller missions that do focused science in a reduced period of time, and cost less than $150 (FY92$) million to build. Several Discovery "Announcements of Opportunity" have been released, whose intent is to solicit proposals for new planetary missions from consortia comprised of industry, small businesses, and universities.

For additional details, visit the NASA Discovery Home Page

Related QuickLook Pages:

• Lunar Prospector
• NEAR

Launch Facts

Name	Int'l Desig.	Date	Site	Vehicle	Orbit	Mass(kg)
Notes
NEAR	1996-008A	2/17/96	ESMC	Delta 2	Solar	818
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous; 1st Discovery mission; will orbit asteroid Eros for extended observations