NASA NAMES ORLANDO FIGUEROA TO LEAD NEW MARS PROGRAM PLANNING GROUP

The following excerpt is from the NASA website:

“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.”