Flagship Program
Encyclopedia
The Flagship Program is a series of NASA
missions to explore the Solar System
. It is the largest and most expensive of three classes of NASA Solar System Programs – the other two being the Discovery Program
, which is the cheapest in cost, and the New Frontiers Program
, which is medium-cost.
According to NASA, the cost of Flagship Program missions ranges between $2 billion and $3 billion. These missions will be crucial in allowing humans to reach and explore difficult, but high-priority targets. These critically important targets could help establish the limits of habitability, not just for our Solar system, but for planetary systems in general. In particular, they potentially provide an opportunity to identify pre-biotic organic molecules or even extant life beyond Earth
, should it exist, in our own Solar System
. The targets of Flagship Missions may include complex missions to the clouds and surface of Venus
; the lower atmosphere and surface of Titan
; the surface and subsurface of Europa
; the deep atmosphere of Neptune
and the surface of its moon Triton
; and the surface of a comet nucleus in the form of cryogenically preserved samples.
, the Cassini spacecraft, the
Galileo spacecraft, and the Voyager probes. The Voyager probes mark the transition between the original NASA unmanned mission programs, which were funded and organized as a series of related missions to specific targets such as the Mariner probes, Viking landers, Pioneer probes, Surveyor landers, Ranger satellites, etc and the modern NASA program which includes flagships. In the early 1990s, NASA made the decision that instead of a centrally planned mission approach around pre-selected targets, mission ideas would be competed. The competitions would be based in cost categories, eventually turning into the Discovery, New Frontiers, and Flagship program. While teams self-assemble to compete for Discovery and New Frontiers missions, Flagship programs are still strongly influenced by NASA headquarters. Also, Discovery and New Frontiers missions are scheduled frequently enough that a standard process has emerged and scientists can expect that process to be followed, but Flagship programs seem to follow a different organizational and development approach every time.
A joint NASA
/ESA mission to the Jupiter
system, tentatively called the Europa Jupiter System Mission
(EJSM), is due to launch no earlier than 2020. According to NASA
, the goals of the mission are for two robotic orbiters working together to determine whether the Jovian system harbors habitable worlds. The orbiters would perform extensive study of the Jovian system before finally focusing on the intriguing moons Europa
and Ganymede
. The spacecraft—NASA
's Jupiter
Europa
Orbiter and the European Space Agency's Jupiter
Ganymede
Orbiter—would determine the extent of subsurface oceans and ice shells on the targeted moons. The moon studies placed in the context of the Jovian system would allow for comparative planetology and would provide significant insight into the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants.
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
missions to explore the Solar System
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
. It is the largest and most expensive of three classes of NASA Solar System Programs – the other two being the Discovery Program
Discovery Program
NASA's Discovery Program is a series of lower-cost, highly-focused American scientific space missions that are exploring the Solar System. It was founded in 1992 to implement then-NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin's vision of "faster, better, cheaper" planetary missions...
, which is the cheapest in cost, and the New Frontiers Program
New Frontiers program
The New Frontiers program is a series of space exploration missions being conducted by NASA with the purpose of researching several of the Sun's planets including Jupiter, Venus, and the dwarf planet Pluto...
, which is medium-cost.
According to NASA, the cost of Flagship Program missions ranges between $2 billion and $3 billion. These missions will be crucial in allowing humans to reach and explore difficult, but high-priority targets. These critically important targets could help establish the limits of habitability, not just for our Solar system, but for planetary systems in general. In particular, they potentially provide an opportunity to identify pre-biotic organic molecules or even extant life beyond Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, should it exist, in our own Solar System
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
. The targets of Flagship Missions may include complex missions to the clouds and surface of Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
; the lower atmosphere and surface of Titan
Titan (moon)
Titan , or Saturn VI, is the largest moon of Saturn, the only natural satellite known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object other than Earth for which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found....
; the surface and subsurface of Europa
Europa (moon)
Europa Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and probably has an iron core. It has a tenuous atmosphere composed primarily of oxygen. Its surface is composed of ice and is one of the smoothest in the Solar System. This surface is striated by cracks and...
; the deep atmosphere of Neptune
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
and the surface of its moon Triton
Triton (moon)
Triton is the largest moon of the planet Neptune, discovered on October 10, 1846, by English astronomer William Lassell. It is the only large moon in the Solar System with a retrograde orbit, which is an orbit in the opposite direction to its planet's rotation. At 2,700 km in diameter, it is...
; and the surface of a comet nucleus in the form of cryogenically preserved samples.
History
The flagship program includes the Mars Science LaboratoryMars Science Laboratory
The Mars Science Laboratory is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration mission with the aim to land and operate a rover named Curiosity on the surface of Mars. The MSL was launched November 26, 2011, at 10:02 EST and is scheduled to land on Mars at Gale Crater between August 6 and 20, 2012...
, the Cassini spacecraft, the
Galileo spacecraft, and the Voyager probes. The Voyager probes mark the transition between the original NASA unmanned mission programs, which were funded and organized as a series of related missions to specific targets such as the Mariner probes, Viking landers, Pioneer probes, Surveyor landers, Ranger satellites, etc and the modern NASA program which includes flagships. In the early 1990s, NASA made the decision that instead of a centrally planned mission approach around pre-selected targets, mission ideas would be competed. The competitions would be based in cost categories, eventually turning into the Discovery, New Frontiers, and Flagship program. While teams self-assemble to compete for Discovery and New Frontiers missions, Flagship programs are still strongly influenced by NASA headquarters. Also, Discovery and New Frontiers missions are scheduled frequently enough that a standard process has emerged and scientists can expect that process to be followed, but Flagship programs seem to follow a different organizational and development approach every time.
Future
The next Flagship Program mission is a Mars Sample Return Mission according to the Planetary Decadal Survey.A joint NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
/ESA mission to the Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
system, tentatively called the Europa Jupiter System Mission
Europa Jupiter System Mission
The Europa Jupiter System Mission – Laplace was a proposed joint NASA/ESA unmanned space mission slated to launch around 2020 for the in-depth exploration of Jupiter's moons with a focus on Europa, Ganymede and Jupiter's magnetosphere...
(EJSM), is due to launch no earlier than 2020. According to NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
, the goals of the mission are for two robotic orbiters working together to determine whether the Jovian system harbors habitable worlds. The orbiters would perform extensive study of the Jovian system before finally focusing on the intriguing moons Europa
Europa (moon)
Europa Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and probably has an iron core. It has a tenuous atmosphere composed primarily of oxygen. Its surface is composed of ice and is one of the smoothest in the Solar System. This surface is striated by cracks and...
and Ganymede
Ganymede (moon)
Ganymede is a satellite of Jupiter and the largest moon in the Solar System. It is the seventh moon and third Galilean satellite outward from Jupiter. Completing an orbit in roughly seven days, Ganymede participates in a 1:2:4 orbital resonance with the moons Europa and Io, respectively...
. The spacecraft—NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
Europa
Europa (moon)
Europa Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and probably has an iron core. It has a tenuous atmosphere composed primarily of oxygen. Its surface is composed of ice and is one of the smoothest in the Solar System. This surface is striated by cracks and...
Orbiter and the European Space Agency's Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
Ganymede
Ganymede (moon)
Ganymede is a satellite of Jupiter and the largest moon in the Solar System. It is the seventh moon and third Galilean satellite outward from Jupiter. Completing an orbit in roughly seven days, Ganymede participates in a 1:2:4 orbital resonance with the moons Europa and Io, respectively...
Orbiter—would determine the extent of subsurface oceans and ice shells on the targeted moons. The moon studies placed in the context of the Jovian system would allow for comparative planetology and would provide significant insight into the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants.