NASA Narrows Choices for Next "New Frontiers" Mission

NASA has selected three missions as candidates for the next spacecraft to fly as part of its “New Frontiers” program. One would send a probe to descend through Venus’ atmosphere and made a survivable landing on its surface, the second would orbit an asteroid, and the third would place a lander at the Moon’s South Pole Aitken Basin. A final selection will be made in 2011 after 12-month detailed studies, with launch expected in 2018. The three were chosen from eight proposals.

The New Frontiers program is part of NASA’s Planetary Sciences Division and nominally selects one medium-class space mission every three years for development. The mission cost cannot exceed $650 million, not including launch costs. The 2011 mission will be the third in the series. The first was the New Horizons spacecraft now enroute to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. The second, Juno, is scheduled for launch in August 2011 to orbit Jupiter around its poles.