New Frontiers

Next New Frontiers mission will retain same set of destinations
A delay of up to two years in the next New Frontiers planetary science mission competition won’t change the potential destinations for that mission.

NASA to delay next New Frontiers competition
NASA will delay the next call for proposals for the New Frontiers program of planetary science missions by two years, a move that could also change what missions will be eligible to compete.

NASA selects Titan drone for next New Frontiers mission
NASA announced June 27 it will send a spacecraft to Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, to fly across its surface to study how life there, and on the early Earth, could have developed.

NASA selects planetary mission proposals large and small
As NASA selects its next major planetary science mission, the agency is also funding studies of very small missions that seek to capitalize on advances in smallsat technology.

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

NASA selects comet and Titan missions as New Frontiers finalists
NASA has selected missions to return samples from a comet and to explore Titan with a drone as finalists for the next New Frontiers medium-class planetary science mission.

NASA begins next New Frontiers competition ahead of schedule
NASA released an announcement of opportunity (AO) for the agency’s next New Frontiers planetary science mission Dec. 9, kicking off a multi-year competition at least a month earlier than widely expected.

Two Discovery Missions Now Means Fewer Later, NASA Official Says
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.

NASA To Jump-start New Frontiers Competition With ‘Homesteader’ Awards
Competition for NASA’s fourth New Frontiers class of medium-sized robotic solar-system missions won’t start for at least a month, but the agency is planning to give some would-be competitors a head start with a small round of technology development funding.

NASA Sets Next $1 Billion New Frontiers Competition for 2016
NASA's next New Frontiers competition will begin in 2016, NASA's Jim Green, director of planetary science, said Feb. 20. At stake: $1 billion in funding for a new robotic solar-system mission that would launch in 2021.