[meteorite-list] NASA Official Announces Chair of New Mars Program Planning Group

[Ron Baalke]

Feb. 27, 2012

Dwayne Brown 
Headquarters, Washington      
202-358-1726 
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov 

RELEASE: 12-060

NASA OFFICIAL ANNOUNCES CHAIR OF NEW MARS PROGRAM PLANNING GROUP

WASHINGTON -- NASA' s associate administrator for the Science Mission 
Directorate, John Grunsfeld, has named former veteran NASA program 
manager Orlando Figueroa to lead a newly established Mars Program 
Planning Group (MPPG) tasked to reformulate the agency's Mars 
Exploration Program. Figueroa's first assignment is to develop a 
draft framework for review by March 15. 

Grunsfeld made the announcement at an annual gathering of Mars 
scientists and engineers in Dulles, Va. Figueroa, a consultant with 
more than 30 years of aerospace experience, will lead the scientific 
and technical team to develop an integrated strategy for NASA's Mars 
Exploration Program in light of current funding constraints. The 
team's initial focus will be on a possible 2018-2020 robotic mission. 
The program's official framework will be developed in consultation 
with the science community and international partners and is expected 
to be released for full review as early as this summer. 

"The team will develop a plan that advances the priorities in the 
National Research Council's Decadal Survey, which puts sample return 
as the top scientific goal, and leverages NASA's research in enabling 
technology," Grunsfeld said. "Our investments in the new Mars program 
will incorporate elements of advanced research and technologies in 
support of a logical sequence of missions to answer fundamental 
scientific questions and ultimately support the goal of sending 
people to Mars." 

The MPPG will report to Grunsfeld, a physicist and five-time flown 
space shuttle astronaut. Grunsfeld is chairing the overall, 
agency-wide reformulation strategy along with William Gerstenmaier, 
associate administrator for the human exploration and operations 
directorate, NASA Chief Scientist Waleed Abdalati and NASA Chief 
Technologist Mason Peck. The MPPG will ensure that America maintains 
the critical technical skills developed over decades needed to 
achieve the highest priority science and exploration objectives. 

NASA has a recognized track record of successful Mars missions. The 
rover Opportunity, which landed on Mars in 2004, is still operating 
despite an official mission timeline of 90 days. There are also two 
NASA satellites orbiting the Red Planet; the Mars Reconnaissance 
Orbiter and Mars Odyssey. The duo continue to return unprecedented 
science data and images. This August, NASA will land the Mars Science 
Laboratory, "Curiosity," on the planet's surface. This roving science 
laboratory will assess whether Mars was or is today an environment 
able to support life. In 2013, NASA will launch the Mars Atmosphere 
and Volatile Evolution orbiter, the first mission devoted to 
understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. 

NASA will continue to gather critical information to help scientists 
understand the Red Planet. These data will be used in future years to 
meet President Obama's challenge to send humans to Mars in the 
mid-2030s. 

"We'll look at all of the assets NASA is developing to reach, explore 
and study Mars, as well as spacecraft at or on its way to Mars," 
Figueroa said. 

NASA already has been developing technology that will improve 
precision in landing, the ability to conduct scientific analysis 
remotely, handle and collect samples, and transmit larger volumes of 
data back to Earth. 

"The science and engineering communities have worked continuously over 
a decade to define our knowledge gaps for Mars exploration, so we 
have a solid starting point," Grunsfeld said. 

Mars exploration is a top priority for NASA. America's investment in 
exploring Mars during the past decade totals $6.1 billion. NASA 
Administrator Charlie Bolden directed Grunsfeld to lead the 
agency-wide team in order to optimize a coordinated strategy of Mars 
exploration and continue America's leadership role in the exploration 
of the Red Planet within available future budgets. 

For more information about NASA's Mars programs, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/mars 
	
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