NASA Selects Explorer Mission of Opportunity Investigations

To: SCIENCE EDITORS

Contact: Dwayne Brown of NASA Headquarters, Washington, +1-202-358-1726, dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

WASHINGTON, June 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has selectedtwo science proposals to be the agency's next Explorer ProgramMission of Opportunity investigations. One activity will study blackholes and other extreme environments in the universe. The other willdetermine how the Earth's outer atmosphere responds to externalforces.

The first investigation will provide a U.S. science instrument tothe Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's New exploration X-RayTelescope, or NeXT. The telescope, currently planned for launch in2013, will open a new observing window on X-rays and the study ofastrophysical phenomena. NASA's proposed funding for the instrumentand operations is $44 million.

The other investigation will fly an atmospheric remote sensinginstrument package aboard a yet-to-be-determined future commercialsatellite. The investigation initially will be funded atapproximately $250,000 for a concept study to aid in a NASA decisionon further development.

"These selections offer unique and cost-effective scienceopportunities," said Charles Gay, deputy associate administrator forNASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "They expandNASA's science through partnerships with international andcommercial organizations."

The two investigations were selected from among 17 proposalsreceived by NASA earlier this year. They were evaluated by peerreviewers. The selected proposals are:

-- High-Resolution Soft X-Ray Spectrometer (SXS) for NeXT,Principal Investigator Richard L. Kelley, Goddard Space FlightCenter, Greenbelt Md. The SXS will probe matter in extremeenvironments; investigate the nature of dark matter on large scalesin the universe; and explore how galaxies and clusters of galaxiesform and evolve.

-- Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD),Principal Investigator Richard Eastes, University of CentralFlorida, Orlando, Fla. GOLD will increase our understanding of thetemperature and composition in the ionosphere; and provideunderstanding of the global scale response of the Earth'sthermosphere and ionosphere.

NASA's Explorer Program is designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to space for heliophysics and astrophysics missions withsmall to mid-sized spacecraft. The program is managed by NASA'sGoddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., for NASA's ScienceMission Directorate.

For more information about the Explorer Program on the Internet,visit:

http://explorers.gsfc.nasa.gov

SOURCE NASA