From: baalke@zagami.jpl.nasa.gov   
      
   Dwayne Brown   
   Headquarters, Washington                    November 4, 2003   
   (Phone: 202/358-1726)   
      
   RELEASE: 03-353   
      
   NASA SELECTS EXPLORER MISSION PROPOSALS FOR FEASIBILITY   
   STUDIES   
      
        NASA recently selected candidate mission proposals that   
   would study the universe, from Jupiter and the sun to black   
   holes and dark matter. The proposals are candidates for   
   missions in NASA's Explorer Program of lower cost, highly   
   focused, rapid-development scientific spacecraft.   
      
   Following detailed mission concept studies, NASA intends to   
   select two of the mission proposals by fall 2004 for full   
   development as Small Explorer (SMEX) missions. The two   
   missions developed for flight will be launched in 2007 and   
   2008.   
      
   NASA has also decided to fund as a "Mission of Opportunity" a   
   balloon-borne experiment to detect high-energy neutrinos,   
   ghostly particles that fill the universe.   
      
   "The Small Explorer mission proposals we received show that   
   the scientific community has a lot of innovative ideas on   
   ways to study some of the most vexing questions in science,   
   and to do it on a relatively small budget," said Dr. Ed   
   Weiler, associate administrator for space science at NASA   
   Headquarters, Washington. "It was difficult to select only a   
   few from among the many great proposals we received, but I   
   think the selected proposals have a great chance to really   
   push back the frontiers of knowledge," he said.   
      
   The selected proposals were judged to have the best science   
   value among 36 submitted to NASA in February 2003. Each will   
   receive $450,000 ($250,000 for the Mission of Opportunity) to   
   conduct a five-month implementation feasibility study. The   
   selected SMEX proposals are:   
      
   o	The Normal-incidence Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer   
   (NEXUS): a solar spectrometer with major advances in   
   sensitivity and resolution to reveal the cause of coronal   
   heating and solar wind acceleration. Joseph M. Davila of   
   NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Md.,   
   would lead NEXUS at a total mission cost to NASA of $131   
   million.   
      
   o	The Dark Universe Observatory (DUO): seven X-ray   
   telescopes to measure the dark matter and dark energy that   
   dominate the content of the universe with 100 times the   
   sensitivity of previous X-ray studies. Richard E.   
   Griffiths of Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, would   
   lead DUO at a total mission cost to NASA of $132 million.   
      
   o	The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX): a pair of   
   cameras to image the boundary between the solar system and   
   interstellar space with 100 times the sensitivity of   
   previous experiments. David J. McComas of the Southwest   
   Research Institute, San Antonio, would lead IBEX at a   
   total mission cost to NASA of $132 million.   
      
   o	The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR): a   
   telescope to carry out a census of black holes with 1000   
   times more sensitivity than previous experiments. NuSTAR   
   would be lead by Fiona Anne Harrison of the California   
   Institute of Technology, Pasadena, at a total mission cost   
   to NASA of $132 million.   
      
   o	The Jupiter Magnetospheric Explorer (JMEX): a telescope to   
   study Jupiter's aurora and magnetosphere from Earth orbit.   
   Nicholas M. Schneider of the University of Colorado at   
   Boulder would lead JMEX, at a total mission cost to NASA   
   of $133 million.   
      
   NASA selected a long-duration balloon payload as the mission   
   of opportunity. The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna   
   (ANITA) would detect radio waves emitted when high-energy   
   neutrinos interact in the Antarctic ice shelf. ANITA would be   
   led by Peter W. Gorham of the University of Hawaii at Manoa   
   in Honolulu, at a total mission cost to NASA of $35 million.   
      
   In addition, NASA selected a proposed mission for technology-   
   development funding of the proposed instrument. Jean Swank of   
   GSFC will develop a polarization sensitive X-ray detector.   
   Swank will receive up to $300,000 over the next two years for   
   her study.   
      
   The five selected SMEX proposals are vying to be the tenth   
   and eleventh SMEX missions selected for full development.   
   Recent selections include the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar   
   Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), launched in February 2002; the   
   Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), launched in April 2003;   
   and the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere mission (AIM), to   
   be launched in 2006. The Explorer Program, managed by GSFC   
   for NASA's Office of Space Science, is designed to provide   
   frequent, low-cost access to space for physics and astronomy   
   missions with small to mid-sized spacecraft.   
      
   For more information about the Explorer Program on the   
   Internet, visit:   
      
   http://explorers.gsfc.nasa.gov   
      
   For information about NASA and space science on the Internet,   
   visit:   
      
   http://www.nasa.gov   
      
      
   -end-   
      
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