NASA has selected three science investigations from which it will pick one potential 2016 mission: look at Mars’ interior for the first time; study an extraterrestrial sea on one of Saturn’s moons; or study in unprecedented detail the surface of a comet’s nucleus.

Each investigation team will receive $3 million to conduct its mission’s concept phase or preliminary design studies and analyses. After another detailed review in 2012 of the concept studies, NASA will select one to continue development efforts leading up to launch. The selected mission will be cost-capped at $425 million, not including launch vehicle funding.

NASA’s Discovery Program requested proposals for spaceflight investigations in June 2010. A panel of NASA and other scientists and engineers reviewed 28 submissions. The selected investigations could reveal much about the formation of our solar system and its dynamic processes. Three technology developments for possible future planetary missions also were selected.

“NASA continues to do extraordinary science that is rewriting textbooks,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “Missions like these hold great promise to vastly increase our knowledge, extend our reach into the solar system, and inspire future generations of explorers.”

 

See the website for more details.http://www.astronomy.com/~/link.aspx?_id=a75db988-c1d8-4791-a328-31941b0840cb（SY）