Maximizing Science Return on Investment (ROI) through Rideshare
Abstract
NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Rideshare Office has taken bold steps to foster increased science return, mission exploration, and create more opportunities for technology maturation by enabling rideshare and accommodation opportunities for secondary payloads on SMD primary mission launches. Rideshare access to space is possible when a primary payload's launch configuration has excess performance that can be shared with compatible secondary payloads. There is a significant difference between sensitive science instruments flying as payloads versus commercial imaging or communication satellites. The SMD Rideshare Office serves as the single point of contact in NASA SMD for coordinating the rideshare opportunities between compatible payloads and the SMD launch opportunities. SMD's policy supports rideshare partnerships across NASA, other Government Agencies, and NASA's International Partners. This discussion will cover valuable lessons and information that have been captured from implementing the IMAP mission rideshare and other current missions. The topics will include mission strategies that encourage the use of small spacecraft to capture multi-point science measurements, do-no-harm management to minimize impacts when multiple sensitive science missions are integrated and flown together, as well as interplanetary mission design considerations. Further, rideshare is being used to bridge the challenge of maturing technology with actual flight demonstrations. This rideshare approach matures technology and mitigates the risk for use on critical flagship missions. In summary, this discussion will share the benefits and lessons learned of making rideshare a standard framework for maximizing science return on investment and providing more partnering opportunities.
- Publication:
-
44th COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 16-24 July
- Pub Date:
- July 2022
- Bibcode:
- 2022cosp...44.3059Z