Principal-Investigator-Led Missions in the Space Sciences (2006) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
5 PI-Led Mission Performance: Cost, Schedule, and Science
5 PI-Led Mission Performance: Cost, Schedule, and Science
Pages 38-51
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 38... ...
The committee also referred to the study prepared by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) , which focused more specifically on cost growth and factors that would contribute to it in PI-led missions.3 The analysis portion of that report is excerpted in 1Although an in-depth budgetary analysis of core missions was beyond the scope of the committee's task, it considered the cost performance of PI-led missions relative to that of a subset of core missions as a way to provide context on cost and budget factors unique to PI-led missions compared with those factors for all NASA missions.
|
From page 39... ...
In addition, the slip in launch date for RHESSI was attributable to factors related to the Pegasus launch vehicle and not to the RHESSI project itself.7 When evaluated against a set of recent core NASA missions (Table 5.3) , the Discovery Program compares favorably (average life-cycle costs growth of 13.7 percent versus 18.3 percent for the other recent missions)
|
From page 40... ...
40 ing aft of year ol launch ack tr and MO&DA . , ,1-year spacecr contr million.
|
From page 41... ...
41 of of ol after launch delay. and contr launch addition and increase, MO&DA increased the the rate availability, required launch hardware delays to to and under reviews security, parts increased repairs overrun, due due IT launch not to for to to to overruns.
|
From page 42... ...
42 due as e. , and slip te well dat da as additional ys oblems .
|
From page 43... ...
While NASA has increased the cost caps on both the Explorer Program and the Discovery Program, these increases may not be sufficient to support the ambitious missions being proposed. Other known sources of mission cost growth in recent years are rising launch vehicle costs (Figure 5.1)
|
From page 44... ...
13 NASA's senior review process considers whether to provide funding to extend mission operations and data analysis for any of the operating space science missions beyond their planned mission lifetimes. The senior review process prioritizes those missions that should be extended, based on their scientific value and return, within NASA's available funds.
|
From page 45... ...
260 (million 250 Cap 240 230 1994 1996 1998 2000 2003 Year of AO FIGURE 5.2 Impact of inflation on Discovery AO cost caps. This chart was taken from a cost study done by the Earth and Space Sciences Support Office (ESSSO)
|
From page 46... ...
SOURCE: Mission Web sites and NASA Headquarters. good standing of PI-led missions in recent senior reviews and decadal surveys17 and their inclusion in recent NASA roadmaps and strategic plans18 suggests that PI-led missions are broadly viewed as scientifically valuable and productive ways of carrying out space science missions.
|
From page 47... ...
The Dawn mission was able to maintain both of its targeted destinations in part through a PI-driven management change, which brought with it a different approach to implementation. The PIs sometimes convince the program and NASA Headquarters that additional investment beyond the original cost cap is warranted by the potential science return (e.g., as in the case of Swift, where the PI preserved the detector area, or GALEX, where the mission proceeded to launch in spite of large technology-development-related cost and schedule overruns)
|
From page 48... ...
.Shown are all-sky images of the microwave intensity comparing earlier Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) mission results (top)
|
From page 49... ...
energy neutron emission from the lunar surface.The dark blue and purple areas on the maps indicate low counting rates. These low rates support the idea of hydrogen-rich deposits covered by regolith.
|
From page 50... ...
spacecraft and the more prominent extreme ultraviolet (EUV) image from the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE)
|
From page 51... ...
PI-LED MISSION PERFORMANCE: COST, SCHEDULE, AND SCIENCE 51 FIGURE 5.7 The Swift Explorer mission caught a supernova in action in March 2005. The ultraviolet image shows it as a bright point on the edge of the galaxy NGC2811.This is one of the first detailed observations of a developing supernova in ultraviolet light.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.