The Mission

by David W. Brown

  218.B. Balmer, J. Gregory, and M. Godwin, “‘Brain Drain’ Debate in the United Kingdom, c. 1950–1970” (data collection), UK Data Service, 2009, http://doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-6099-1.

  219.Committee Appointed by the Council of the British Royal Society, “Emigration of Scientists from the United Kingdom,” Contemporary Physics 4, no. 4 (1963): 304–5, https://doi.org/10.1080/00107516308247984.

  220.U.S. Congress, Congressional Record, 89th Cong., 1st sess., 1965, pt. 18, p. 24238, accessed from https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt18/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt18-4.pdf.

  221.B. Lovell, “A British ‘Brain’ Explains the ‘Brain Drain’; An Eminent Scientist Examines the Reasons Why So Many of His Colleagues Are Emigrating to the United States—to the Consternation of Britain’s Scientific Community,” New York Times, March 22, 1964, 13.

  222.K. Clark, email message to author regarding Cassini project development, July 4, 2019.

  223.R. Staehle, “Ice & Fire: Missions to the Most Difficult Solar System Destinations . . . on a Budget,” Acta Astronautica 45, nos. 4–9 (1999): 423–39, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0094-5765(99)00162-9.

  224.Ibid.

  225.“Galileo Venus Flyby,” NASA, JPL, CIT, last modified February 7, 1990, http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=5703.

  See also “Galileo Heads Towards Second Gravity Assist,” NASA, JPL, CIT, last modified December 4, 1990, http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=5741.

  226.R. W. Farquhar, Fifty Years on the Space Frontier: Halo Orbits, Comets, Asteroids, and More (Denver: Outskirts Press, 2011).

  Books on orbital dynamics are not generally fun to read, but the late Bob Farquhar’s out-of-print memoirs are well worth tracking down. Farquhar, who worked at the Applied Physics Laboratory, was a pioneer in the field and had a mischievous streak that kept him crosswise with NASA headquarters for much of his storied career. He was also a fellow paratrooper. Airborne, brother!

  227.“About Plutonium-238,” NASA Radioisotope Power Systems, accessed October 24, 2019, https://rps.nasa.gov/about-rps/about-plutonium-238.

  228.60 Minutes, “5-4-3-2-1 Liftoff” (transcript), produced by Don Hewitt, featuring Steve Kroft, aired October 5, 1997, on CBS-TV, available at Proposition One online, http://prop1.org/2000/cassini/971005fl.htm.

  No matter how bad I might make this story seem, it was way, way worse than that.

  229.D. Netburn, “‘OK. Let’s Do It!’ An Oral History of How NASA’s Cassini Mission to Saturn Came to Be,” Los Angeles Times, September 12, 2017, https://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-cassini-oral-history-20170912-htmlstory.html.

  230.T. Reichhardt, “Designs on Europa Unfurl,” Nature 437, no. 8 (2005): https://doi.org/10.1038/437008a.

  231.Not everyone agreed with this philosophy, as we shall see later in the story. NASA and its governing documents are unambiguous on who is in charge of a flagship-class mission: the project manager.

  232.C. Phillips, interview by author, September 14, 2017.

  233.L. Prockter, interview by author, January 15, 2018.

  234.L. M. Prockter, “Folds on Europa: Implications for Crustal Cycling and Accommodation of Extension,” Science 289, no. 5481 (2000): 941–43, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.289.5481.941.

  235.G. C. Collins et al., “Evaluation of Models for the Formation of Chaotic Terrain on Europa,” Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 105, no. e1 (2000): 1709–16, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JE001143.

  236.G. V. Hoppa, “Formation of Cycloidal Features on Europa,” Science 285, no. 5435 (1999): 1899–1902, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.285.5435.1899.

  237.T. Kane, “The Decline of American Engagement: Patterns in US Troop Deployments” (Economics working paper 16101, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 2016).

  238.C. Greeley, interview by author, February 7, 2017.

  239.Ibid. Calculated for inflation and rising real estate prices, its value as of February 7, 2017, was $1,870,629. Incidentally, the door is still red and the exterior still gray.

  240.R. Greeley, curriculum vitae, February 2, 2009.

  241.K. Cole, “Galileo Takes Close-Ups of Icy Europa,” Los Angeles Times, December 17, 1997, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-dec-17-me-64998-story.html.

  242.R. T. Pappalardo, Strawman Europa SDT List, January 8, 2007.

  243.S. Niebur, “Not Good,” Toddler Planet (blog), June 16, 2007, https://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/2007/06/16/not-good.

  244.S. Niebur, “Goodbye Hair,” Toddler Planet (blog), July 27, 2007, https://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/2007/07/27/goodbye-hair.

  245.S. Niebur, “A Difficult Day,” Toddler Planet (blog), August 1, 2007, https://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/2007/08/01/a-difficult-day.

  246.K. Clark et al., 2007 Europa Explorer Mission Study: Final Report (JPL D-41283) (Pasadena, CA: NASA, JPL, CIT, November 1, 2007), available at Lunar and Planetary Institute, https://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/europa_explorer_public_report_1.pdf.

  247.K. Clark, telephone interview by author, March 23, 2018.

  248.T. May, interview by author, February 2, 2017.

  249.B. W. Stauffer et al., “A Friend Acting Strangely: An Exhibition on Climate Change in the Arctic” (abstract ED21B-1212), American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting, Abstracts, December 2003, available at Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory/NASA Astrophysics Data System, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003AGUFMED21B1212S/abstract.

  250.CBS / Associated Press, “Did Smithsonian Alter Climate Change Show?,” CBS News, last modified May 21, 2007, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/did-smithsonian-alter-climate-change-show.

  251.J. Grimaldi and J. Trescott, “Scientists Fault Climate Exhibit Changes,” Washington Post, November 16, 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/15/AR2007111502550.html.

  252.S. S. Board and National Research Council, Grading NASA’s Solar System Exploration Program: A Midterm Report (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2008), http://nap.edu/12070.

  253.Stern and Grinspoon, Chasing New Horizons, 155.

  254.D. F. Everett, “Engineering a Successful Mission: Lessons from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter,” Proceedings of the 2011 Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT, 2011, 1–2, https://doi.org/10.1109/AERO.2011.5747273.

  255.Stern, “NASA’s Black Hole Budgets.”

  256.B. Berger, “Kepler Team Cuts Costs, Avoids Cancellation,” SpaceNews, last modified July 25, 2007, https://spacenews.com/kepler-team-cuts-costs-avoids-cancellation.

  257.M. Mewhinney, NASA Ames Research Center, “NASA Ames’ Kepler Mission Selected for Discovery Program,” news release 01-107AR, December 21, 2001, https://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2001/01_107AR.html.

  258.J. R. Minkel, “Stern Steps Down as NASA Science Chief After Mars Budget Dustup,” Scientific American, March 27, 2008, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stern-steps-down-as-head.

  See also K. Tobin, “Mixed Signals from NASA About Fate of Mars Rover,” CNN, last modified March 24, 2008, http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/03/24/nasa.mars.rover.

  See also K. Cowing, “Give Us What We Want or We’ll Shoot the Cute Little Rover,” NASAWatch.com, last modified March 25, 2008, http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2008/03/give-us-what-we-want-or-well-shoot-the-cute-little-rover.html.

  See also J. Foust, “Mars Rover Funding Cuts: Will There Be a Backlash?,” Space Politics, last modified March 24, 2008, http://www.spacepolitics.com/2008/03/24/mars-rover-funding-cuts-will-there-be-a-backlash.

  259.Stern and Grinspoon, Chasing New Horizons, 142.

  See also T. May, interview by author, May 11, 2016.

  See also A. Stern, interview by author, August 26, 2016.

  260.Stern and Grinspoon, Chasing New Horizons, 144–47.

  See also A. Stern, interview by author, August 26, 2016.

  See also T. May, interview by author, August 11, 2016.

  261.A. Stern, telephone interview by author, August 26, 2016.

&nbs
p; 262.T. Gavin, telephone interview by author, December 29, 2016. See also T. May, interview by author, May 3, 2018.

  263.Reichhardt, “Unstoppable Force,” 380–81.

  264.T. May, interview by author, February 2, 2017.

  See also E. Weiler, interview by author, September 4, 2017.

  265.“Icy, Patterned Ground on Mars,” NASA, JPL, CIT, last modified May 25, 2008, https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA10682.

  See also W. Harwood, “Satellite Orbiting Mars Imaged Descending Phoenix,” Spaceflight Now, last modified May 26, 2008, https://spaceflightnow.com/mars/phoenix/080526mrochute.html.

  266.T. May, interview by author, April 3, 2018. As of July 7, 2019, the NASA job search portal still lists “a sense of daring” as a sought trait of agency employees.

  See also “Careers at NASA,” NASA, accessed October 24, 2019, https://nasajobs.nasa.gov/default.htm.

  267.M. Petrovich, email message to author regarding the building count, July 10, 2019.

  I manually counted the buildings as well on an untitled but detailed map of Jet Propulsion Laboratory made circa 2003.

  268.P. Cargill et al., Cosmic Vision: Space Science for Europe 2015–2025 (BR-247) (Noordwijk, Neth.: European Space Agency, October 2005), http://www.esa.int/esapub/br/br247/br247.pdf.

  269.Planning and Coordination Office: Directorate of the Scientific Programme, “First Call for Missions for the Cosmic Vision Plan 2015–2025 (CV1): Programmatic Context” (PowerPoint presentation, European Space Agency headquarters, Paris, November 2007), https://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/nov_2007_meeting/presentations/cosmic_visions.pdf.

  270.“What is ESA?,” European Space Agency, accessed October 24, 2019, http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Corporate_news/What_is_ESA.

  271.NASA Office of Inspector General, NASA’s International Partnerships: Capabilities, Benefits, and Challenges (IG-16-020) (Washington, DC: May 5, 2016), 24, https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/oig-reports/IG-16-020.pdf.

  272.Ibid.

  273.W. Faulconer, email message to author regarding JPL-APL partnership for Europa mission, July 10, 2019.

  See also C. Elachi and R. Roca, Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) Between the California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), September 15, 2006.

  274.T. Magner, telephone interview by author, December 21, 2018.

  275.A. Lawler, “Space Science: A Space Race to the Bottom Line,” Science 311, no. 5767 (2006): 1540–43, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.311.5767.1540.

  276.NASA, President’s FY2007 Budget Request (Washington, DC: NASA, 2006), https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/142458main_FY07_budget_full.pdf.

  277.W. Huntress Jr. and L. Friedman, “Commentary: NASA’s 2007 Budget Proposal: No Real Vision,” Space.com, last modified February 14, 2006, https://www.space.com/2048-commentary-nasas-2007-budget-proposal-real-vision.html.

  278.F. Wolf, House Committee Report 109-118: Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, Fiscal Year 2006 (Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives, 2005).

  In this subcommittee appropriations report, the “committee urges NASA to consider incorporating a nonnuclear Europa mission as part of its fiscal year 2007 budget request.”

  See also F. Wolf, House Report 109-272: Making Appropriations for Science, the Departments of State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies for the Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 2006, and for Other Purposes (Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives, 2005).

  See also F. Wolf, House Report 109-520: Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, Fiscal Year 2007 (Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives, 2006).

  This report sets aside $15 million to initiate planning for an orbiter/lander mission to Europa.

  279.J. Culberson, “An Urgent Personal Letter from Congressman John Culberson to American Scientists and Engineers,” press release, March 9, 2006, available at SpaceRef, http://images.spaceref.com/news/2006/2006.03.09.Culberson.letter.pdf.

  280.Outer Planets Assessment Group, “Europa’s Priority in NASA, NRC, and Community Document,” Lunar and Planetary Institute, last modified 2006, https://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/europa_priority.pdf.

  281.C. Shupla, email message to author regarding LPSC 2006 numbers, September 24, 2018.

  282.“In Memoriam: Harold Masursky, 1923–1990,” Lunar and Planetary Information Bulletin, no. 100 (November 2004): 5, https://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/newsletters/lpib/lpib100.pdf.

  283.J. Lunine, “Masursky Lecture: Beyond the Asteroid Belt: Where to Go Next in the Solar System and Why” (PowerPoint presentation, Thirty-Seventh Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, the Woodlands, TX, March 2006).

  See also “37th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference: The Conference in Review,” LPI Bulletin 106 (May 2006): 4–6.

  284.L. David, “Scientist Urges ‘Clean Sheet’ Approach to Outer Planets Exploration,” SpaceNews.com, April 24, 2006, https://spacenews.com/scientist-urges-clean-sheet-approach-outer-planets-exploration.

  285.L. David, “Researcher Touts Saturn’s Titan as New Exploration Goal,” Space.com, March 14, 2006, https://www.space.com/2152-researcher-touts-saturns-titan-exploration-goal.html.

  286.E. Lakdawalla, “LPSC: Thursday—The Moons of Jupiter and the Future of Outer Planet Exploration,” Planetary Society, last modified March 18, 2006, https://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2007/0500.html.

  287.“Christmas 2004: Cassini Delivers a Very Special Gift,” NASA Solar System Exploration, last modified December 20, 2016, https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/12980/christmas-2004-cassini-delivers-a-very-special-gift.

  “Christmas Day” might also be “Christmas Eve,” depending on the time zone.

  288.NASA, “Cassini Launch,” press kit, October 1997, https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/17320/cassini-launch-press-kit.

  See the press kit for a general description of the Huygens landing. See also R. Lorenz and J. Mitton, Titan Unveiled: Saturn’s Mysterious Moon Explored (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010), 135–48.

  289.“Huygens,” European Space Agency Science & Technology, last modified September 1, 2019, https://sci.esa.int/web/cassini-huygens/-/47052-huygens.

  290.NASA, “Cassini Launch.”

  291.J.-P. Lebreton et al., “Results from the Huygens Probe on Titan,” Astronomy and Astrophysics Review 17, no. 2 (2009): 149–79, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00159-009-0021-5.Seepage152.

  292.E. Lakdawalla, “They Were the First, and the Last, to Hear from Huygens,” Planetary Society, last modified February 7, 2005, https://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2005/20050207-they-were-the-first-and-the-last-to-hear-from-huygens.html.

  293.D. Bressan, “Dante’s Inferno: The Geology of Hell,” History of Geology, last modified June 17, 2016, http://historyofgeology.fieldofscience.com/2016/06/dantes-inferno-geology-of-hell.html.

  294.Dante, Inferno, trans. R. Hollander (New York: Anchor Books, 2002).

  The salient text can be found in Canto XII.

  295.J. Leary et al., Titan Explorer Flagship Mission Study (Laurel, MD: JHUAPL, January 2008), available at Lunar and Planetary Institute, https://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/Titan_Explorer_Public_Report.pdf.

  296.Lorenz and Mitton, Titan Unveiled, 243–44.

  This also presents a first-person account of the transition to a Lunineled Titan Saturn System Mission. Note also that Ralph’s books on Titan and the exploration thereof are among the most compelling works of science writing in the genre, and are highly recommended.

  See also R. Lorenz, telephone interview by author, September 14, 2017.

  See also H. Waite, telephone interview by author, October 4, 2017.

  297.D. Linick and C. Briggs, “Aerocapture Technology” (presentation, Venus Exploration Analysis Group, Greenbelt, MD, May 8, 2008), https://www.lpi.usra.edu/vexag/may2008/presentations/24munk.pdf.

  298.F. Trevens, “After Rockett
es—Rocky Bottom of High Tor?” Art Times, April 2005, https://www.arttimesjournal.com/dance/Apr_05_Francine_Trevens_Rockettes.htm. For a general account of being a Rockette.

  See also A. Bodine, “Here’s How Much the Iconic Rockettes Get Paid to Do 4 Shows a Day, Change Costumes in 78 Seconds, and Kick up to 1,200,” Business Insider, last modified December 4, 2017, https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-much-rockettes-get-paid-to-kick-1200-times-a-day-2017-12.

  299.C. Sagan, letter to J. Lunine, April 18, 1974.

  300.A. Simon, telephone interview by author, May 24, 2018.

  See also J. Lunine, telephone interview by author, August 15, 2017.

  See also L. Prockter, telephone interview by author, September 6, 2018.

  See also H. Waite, telephone interview by author, October 4, 2017.

  See also R. Pappalardo, telephone interview by author, June 2, 2018.

  Literally everyone I interviewed who was involved in either study just could not overstate how bad things got between the two teams.

  301.NASA, JPL, “Cassini Finds Lakes on Titan’s Arctic Region,” news release 06-274, NASA Newsroom, July 26, 2006, https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/jul/HQ_06274_cassini_lakes_titan.html.

  302.Science@NASA, “New Lakes Discovered on Titan,” NASA Science Mission Directorate, last modified October 12, 2007, https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/12oct_titan.

  303.K. Reh et al., Titan Saturn System Mission Study: Final Report (Washington, DC: NASA and the European Space Agency, October 4, 2017).

  304.NASA Science Mission Directorate, “NASA Offers Pre-screening of Principal Investigator Revised Requirements for New Frontiers Opportunity,” February 26, 2008, available at SpaceRef, http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=27162.

  305.S. Niebur, “Double Mastectomy,” Toddler Planet (blog), January 11, 2011, https://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/2008/01/11/double-mastectomy.

  306.S. Niebur, “Or What’s a Heaven For,” Toddler Planet (blog), August 13, 2007, https://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/2007/08/13/or-whats-a-heaven-for.

  307.S. Niebur, “I Had a Bad Scan,” Toddler Planet (blog), March 13, 2010, https://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/2010/03/13/i-had-a-bad-scan.