Add to NASA Daily News Summary For Release: May 12, 2000 Media Advisory m00-095a ALL TIMES EASTERN BOARD FINDS CAUSE OF HESSI MISHAP NASA IDENTIFIES TWO OPTIONS FOR 2003 MARS MISSIONS; DECISION IN JULY -------------------------- BOARD FINDS CAUSE OF HESSI MISHAP The HESSI Mishap Board released its final report today saying that the High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (HESSI) spacecraft was damaged March 21 during pre-flight vibration tests because of a malfunction in the vibration test system at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA. The vibration tests simulate the stresses that the spacecraft experiences during the rollout, release and flight to orbit aboard the Pegasus launch vehicle. The damage was caused when the test device, called a "shaker," delivered to the spacecraft approximately ten times the appropriate level of gravity exerted on a body at rest (10 Gs) for the test. As a result, the spacecraft's structure was damaged and three of the four solar arrays were severely damaged. Satellites are routinely subjected to vibration testing as part of preparing them for flight. The HESSI satellite will be repaired and re- assembled at the University of California, Berkeley, which is serving as the prime contractor on the project and is home to the principal investigator. HESSI will be returned to JPL for continued spacecraft testing after re-assembly. Launch plans will be announced when available. HESSI is a Small Explorer mission and is managed by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center under the Explorer Program. The science team includes co-investigators from Switzerland, Scotland, Japan, France and The Netherlands. More information on the mission can be found at: http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/hessi/ http://hessi.ssl.berkeley.edu Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Dolores Beasley (Phone 202/358-1753). Contact at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD: Mark Hess (Phone: 301/286-8982). For full text, see: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-080.txt ---------------------------- NASA IDENTIFIES TWO OPTIONS FOR 2003 MARS MISSIONS; DECISION IN JULY In 2003, NASA may launch either a Mars scientific orbiter mission or a large scientific rover which will land using an airbag cocoon like that on the successful 1997 Mars Pathfinder mission. The two concepts were selected from dozens of options that had been under study. NASA will make a decision on the options, including whether or not to proceed to launch, in early July. Two teams, one centered at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA, and the other at Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO, will conduct separate, intensive two-month studies to further define the concepts. In the studies the teams also will evaluate risk, cost, and readiness for flight, allowing 36 months of development leading to a May 2003 launch date. The reports will be submitted for review to Mars Program Director Scott Hubbard at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. Dr. Ed Weiler, Associate Administrator for Space Science at NASA Headquarters, will make the final decision of which mission -- if any -- to launch in the 2003 opportunity. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Donald Savage (Phone: 202/358-1547). For full text, see: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-081.txt ********** If NASA issues additional news releases later today, we will e- mail summaries and Internet URLs to this list. Index of 1999 NASA News Releases: http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1999/index.html ********** The NASA Daily News Summary is issued each business day at approximately 2 p.m. Eastern time. Members of the media who wish to subscribe or unsubscribe from this list, please send e-mail message to: Brian.Dunbar@hq.nasa.gov ********** end of add to daily news summary