[meteorite-list] Discovery_at_15 - Looking Back, Moving Forward

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2007 11:54:09 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200706061854.LAA16833_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://discovery.nasa.gov/Discovery15/

Discovery at 15 - Looking Back, Moving Forward

In 2007, NASA's Discovery Program celebrates its 15th anniversary
with a science conference that will for the first time bring together
in a public forum the principal investigators, or PIs, who lead
Discovery's scientifically rich, lower cost space explorations.
These prominent scientists have assumed the daunting dual-role in
"PI-led" missions of both directing the science effort and being
responsible for overall mission success. They will reflect on their
science goals and results along with engineering and management
challenges and achievements.

Hosted by NASA's Planetary Science Division and the Discovery Program
Office, Discovery at 15 - Looking Back, Moving Forward will be held
September 19-20 in Huntsville, Alabama. It will provide a forum for
the exchange of experiences, discoveries and new ideas for future
missions among program participants and the next generation of
proposers.

The Discovery Program was an experiment for NASA - funding scientists
to follow their dreams and explore an unknown piece of the solar
system puzzle. Seeking to achieve outstanding results using fewer
resources and shorter development times than past projects with
comparable objectives, NASA gave the green light to Discovery in 1992
with Mars Pathfinder, a bold mission to put a station and a small
rover on Mars.

In 15 years, ten missions have been selected to take this the roller
coaster ride of Discovery, to advance science knowledge about how our
solar system came to be, how we fit in, and what is our fate. The
two-day event will commemorate the successes of the completed
Discovery missions: Mars Pathfinder, NEAR, Lunar Prospector,
Genesis, Deep Impact and Stardust and look forward to the successes
expected from those missions not yet complete: MESSENGER, Dawn, and
Kepler.

Panel discussion topics include the technical challenges of sample
return, the infusion of new technology into low-risk missions, the
ins-and-outs of international cooperation, complex flight operations,
successful education and public outreach programs, and project
management challenges. Thematic sessions will feature scientists,
engineers, managers and educators from the ten Discovery missions and
the two Discovery Missions of Opportunity to offer a mix of
perspectives. Principal investigators will discuss their science
goals and achievements and their views on what is needed next to
follow-up. They will speak from experience on proposal development,
mission implementation, challenges overcome, innovations employed,
and lessons learned.

Alan Stern, the new Associate Administrator of NASA's Science Mission
Directorate, will be the featured speaker at the opening night
dinner. Discovery Program Scientist Dr. Michael New will open the
conference, and former NASA Associate Administrator for Space
Science, Dr. Wes Huntress, will deliver the closing address.

Registration and logistics information can be found on the Discovery
Program web site, http://discovery.nasa.gov/Discovery15. The
conference is free and open to the public.
Received on Wed 06 Jun 2007 02:54:09 PM PDT