Europa lander

Committee praises NASA’s planetary science program but raises some concerns

by —

NASA has done a good job implementing the recommendations of its latest planetary science decadal survey despite past budget problems, but needs to improve some programs, a recent report concluded.

Decadal SurveyDiscoveryEuropaMars 2020MissionsNASANew FrontiersPeopleplanetary science
Lucy and Psyche

NASA selects two asteroid missions for Discovery program

by —

NASA has selected two missions to asteroids in the latest round of its Discovery planetary science program, a move that NASA says puts the program back on track after a recent drought of missions.

asteroidDiscoveryMissionsNASAPsycheVenus

Two Discovery Missions Now Means Fewer Later, NASA Official Says

by —

The agency has said it could select two of the five finalists for the latest of its Discovery-class planetary missions — including two Venus concepts and three asteroid concepts — next year for full-scale development.

DiscoveryMissionsNASANew Frontiersplanetary science

NASA Weighing Double-Barrel Discovery Award

by —

NASA might end up funding two of the five mission concepts just selected for further study in the latest Discovery-class planetary science mission competition, a senior agency official said.

DiscoveryMissionsNASAPlanetary

Venus, Asteroid Proposals Advance in NASA Discovery Competition

by —

Five robotic mission concepts — two for Venus, three for asteroids — will duke it out to become NASA's next Discovery-class small planetary science mission. The winner would launch in 2021.

DiscoveryMissionsNASAplanetary science

Small Bodies Dominate NASA’s Latest Discovery Competition

by —

Over half of the 28 proposals NASA received for a $450 million robotic solar-system mission launching around 2021 seek to explore small bodies such as comets, asteroids or tiny moons.

DiscoveryMissions