Developing Your Science Story
Transcript of Developing Your Science Story
Developing Your Science StoryCL#21-2323
Randii R. Wessen (JPL)Advanced Design Engineering Group
Project Systems Engineering & Formulation Section
9/13/21 1
9/13/21 2
• NASA is Looking for Compelling Science
• Concept Maturity Levels
• Baseline and Threshold Science Missions
• Science Return Diagram
• Final Thoughts
Agenda
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
9/13/21 3
NASA is Looking for Compelling Science
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Science Must be Compelling
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• Science Story
T. Zurbuchen’s “Writing Successful Proposals: Observations from NASA”
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
• Science Story- “Make science beautiful – want to tell a compelling story about discovery
and exploration”
• Science Story- “Make science beautiful – want to tell a compelling story about discovery
and exploration”- “Make all decisions flow from overarching science questions to ensure no
decisions prevent answering those questions (start with that, then modify)”
• Science Story- “Make science beautiful – want to tell a compelling story about discovery
and exploration”- “Make all decisions flow from overarching science questions to ensure no
decisions prevent answering those questions (start with that, then modify)”
- “If the importance of science is not clear or not communicated sufficiently, it can derail your success!”
• Science Story- “Make science beautiful – want to tell a compelling story about discovery
and exploration”- “Make all decisions flow from overarching science questions to ensure no
decisions prevent answering those questions (start with that, then modify)”
- “If the importance of science is not clear or not communicated sufficiently, it can derail your success!”
• How much science is enough?
• Science Story- “Make science beautiful – want to tell a compelling story about discovery
and exploration”- “Make all decisions flow from overarching science questions to ensure no
decisions prevent answering those questions (start with that, then modify)”
- “If the importance of science is not clear or not communicated sufficiently, it can derail your success!”
• How much science is enough?- “Incremental science is not enough”
• Science Story- “Make science beautiful – want to tell a compelling story about discovery
and exploration”- “Make all decisions flow from overarching science questions to ensure no
decisions prevent answering those questions (start with that, then modify)”
- “If the importance of science is not clear or not communicated sufficiently, it can derail your success!”
• How much science is enough?- “Incremental science is not enough”
• How much risk is too much?
• Science Story- “Make science beautiful – want to tell a compelling story about discovery
and exploration”- “Make all decisions flow from overarching science questions to ensure no
decisions prevent answering those questions (start with that, then modify)”
- “If the importance of science is not clear or not communicated sufficiently, it can derail your success!”
• How much science is enough?- “Incremental science is not enough”
• How much risk is too much?- NASA …”is comfortable with taking technical risks if necessary to achieve
great science, but are willing to cancel missions and payloads to manage risk”
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Concept Maturity Levels
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Absent: A Common Language for Concepts
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How mature is your concept?
This Titan
OrbitTrades CommentsLaunch vehicle Atlas V Delta IV-Heavy Ares V Ares V considered acceptable only for sample
return concepts launched post 2020.
Cruise propulsion SEP + GAs Chemical + GAs Propulsive only Good performance from Chemical+Gravity Assists (GAs). SEP+GAs warrants further consideration, but new optimized trajectory search is needed.
Capture into Saturn system Titan aerocapture (aerogravity assist)
Propulsive capture Aerogravity assist saves mass and also saves at least several months in pumpdown .
Pump-down mission design Enceladus/Titan GAs only
Multiple moon GAs only
Multiple moon propulsively-leveraged GAs
REP+GAs Other options found to be too high delta-V or flight time.
RPS type MMRTG ARPS (advanced Stirling)
ARPS specific power higher, efficiency much higher (less Pu needed). Guidelines allowed ARPS as acceptable and available option for flagship studies.
Orbiter implementation Enceladus Orbiter Low-Energy Enceladus Multiple-Flyby (Saturn Orbiter)
High-Energy Enceladus Multiple-Flyby (Saturn Orbiter)
Lander/Probe implementation Fly-Through Probes and Impactors
Rough Landers Soft Landers Orbi-Landers Priority placed on having in-situ measurements from surface.
Number of landers None One Three (regional distribution)
Five (larger-scale distribution and/or redundancy)
Lander lifetime/duration Short-lived (~2 weeks on primary battery or fuel cell)
Long-lived (~1 year on RPS)
Lander mobility type Stationary Locally mobile (~10 km)
Regionally mobile (~100 km)
Globally mobile Considered propulsive "hopper" type concepts for soft landers.
Legend:
Acceptable and evaluated in this studyAcceptable but not evaluated in this studyUnacceptable
Alternatives and Selections
Interior Structure
(Gravity Field)
Magnetic Field
Energetic Particles
Lg. Circ.Sm. Conv.
Vertical Structure
Surface Structure
Surface Composition
Interior Structure
(Gravity Field)
Uranus Satellites
Atmosphere
Polar Orbiter
Fly-By
Atm. Probe
Free-Flying Instruments
Lander
Equatorial Orbiter
Release of Internal Heat
-
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
Option A Option B Option C Option D Option E Option F Option G Option H Option I
$FY0
6M
TMC
Mass Comparison Summary - Launch Mass and Sub-Elements
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
A B C D E F G H I
Mas
s (k
g)
Lander(s)
Orbiter
Aerocapture System
Cruise/Prop Stage
Delta IV-Heavy C3=16 km^2/s^2
Atlas 551 C3=16 km^2/s^2
Rela
tive
Goal
Sci
ence
Val
ue
A En
cela
dus
orbi
ter w
ith m
ultip
le
shor
t liv
ed la
nder
s
B En
cela
dus
orbi
ter w
ith m
ultip
le
long
-live
d la
nder
s
C En
cela
dus
orbi
ter a
lone
D En
cela
dus
orbi
ter b
ecom
ing
a lo
ng-li
ved
land
er
E En
cela
dus
orbi
ter w
ith s
ingl
e lo
ng-li
ved
land
er
F Lo
w en
ergy
Sat
urn
orbi
ter
(flyb
ys) a
lone
G Hi
gh e
nerg
y Sa
turn
orb
iter
(flyb
ys) a
lone
H Lo
w en
ergy
Sat
urn
orbi
ter
(flyb
ys) w
ith a
sin
gle
long
-live
d la
nder
I Low
ene
rgy
Satu
rn o
rbite
r (fl
ybys
) with
mul
tiple
sho
rt-liv
ed
land
ers
Cass
ini
Science Goals, Enceladus Mission Science Assessment - 0-10, 10 best
1. What is the heat source, what drives the plume 10 6 7 4 5 5 2 1 3 6 1
2. What is the plume production rate, and does it vary 8 8 9 8 9 9 7 3 8 7 33. What are the effects of the plume on the structure and composition of Enceladus? 5 8 9 6 7 7 4 3 5 8 24. What are the interaction effects of the plume on the Saturnian system 3 7 7 7 6 6 8 7 8 7 7
5. Does the composition and/or existence of the plume give us clues to the origin and evolution of the solar system 7 7 7 6 7 7 7 5 7 7 3
6. Does the plume source environment provide the conditions necessary (or sufficient) to sustain biotic or pre-biotic chemistry 5 8 8 6 7 8 6 5 7 8 37. Are other similar bodies (Dione, Tethys, Rhea) also active, and if not, why not? 6 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 8 8 5
Value by Architecture, summed 52 55 45 49 50 42 31 46 51 24
Value by Architecture, weighted, summed, normalized 0.46 0.493 0.393 0.439 0.446 0.353 0.246 0.393 0.449 0.187
or that?
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Concept Maturity Levels (CMLs)
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A Vocabulary Based on TRLs
PreliminaryDesignReview(PDR)
TRL = Technology Readiness Levels
CML 1
CML 2
CML 3
CML 4
CML 5
CML 6
Cocktail Napkin
Initial Feasibility
Trade Space
Preferred DesignPoint withinTrade Space
Concept Baseline
Initial Design
F=ma
CML 7PrelimIntegrated B/L
Mission Definition Review
Step 1 Proposal
CML = Concept Maturity Levels
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
CMLs: A Powerful Communication Tool
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CML 7CML 6CML 5CML 4 CML 3 CML 2 CML 1 CML 8
Cocktail Napkin
Initial Feasibility
Trade Space
Point Design
Baseline Concept
Integrated Concept
Preliminary Implementation
Baseline
Integrated Baseline
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
9/13/21 9
Baseline and Threshold Science Missions
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
NASA’s Definition of Baseline and Threshold Science Missions
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• Baseline Science Mission *- “The “Baseline Science Mission” is the mission that, if fully
implemented, would fulfill the Baseline Science Requirements, which are the performance requirements necessary to achieve the full science objectives of the mission.”
* Text taken from the Draft Discovery 2019 Announcement of Opportunity
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
• Baseline Science Mission *- “The “Baseline Science Mission” is the mission that, if fully
implemented, would fulfill the Baseline Science Requirements, which are the performance requirements necessary to achieve the full science objectives of the mission.”
• Threshold Science Mission *- “The “Threshold Science Mission” is a descoped Baseline Science
Mission that would fulfill the Threshold Science Requirements, which are the performance requirements necessary to achieve the minimum science acceptable for the investment.”
Implications of a Baseline and Threshold Science Missions
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• Baseline Science Mission *- Science obtained must be ”more” than the state-of-the-art
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
• Baseline Science Mission *- Science obtained must be ”more” than the state-of-the-art- Must achieve compelling science with minimal cost & technical risk
• Baseline Science Mission *- Science obtained must be ”more” than the state-of-the-art- Must achieve compelling science with minimal cost & technical risk
• Threshold Science Mission *- Evaluators will assume that the science mission will achieve the threshold
science for the baseline cost
• Baseline Science Mission *- Science obtained must be ”more” than the state-of-the-art- Must achieve compelling science with minimal cost & technical risk
• Threshold Science Mission *- Evaluators will assume that the science mission will achieve the threshold
science for the baseline cost- Cannot use descopes in operations (Phase E) as a basis for the threshold
science mission- Example: Reducing operations from 4 to 3 years does very little to
reduce development costs and risks
• Baseline Science Mission *- Science obtained must be ”more” than the state-of-the-art- Must achieve compelling science with minimal cost & technical risk
• Threshold Science Mission *- Evaluators will assume that the science mission will achieve the threshold
science for the baseline cost- Cannot use descopes in operations (Phase E) as a basis for the threshold
science mission- Example: Reducing operations from 4 to 3 years does very little to
reduce development costs and risks- Baseline and Threshold Science Mission can be the same IF and ONLY IF:
- There is excess amounts of margin in most of the spacecraft resources (i.e., dollars, mass, power, s/c memory, etc.)* Text taken from the Draft Discovery 2019 Announcement of Opportunity
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Science Return Diagram (SRD)
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Science Objectives Drive the Science Return Diagramming Process
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• Generate an SRD for each science objective- Explicitly state the science mission concept for:- State of the art (basis for comparison)- Enhancement- Enabling - Breakthrough science
• Define:- Spatial requirements- Temporal requirement- Spectral range- Mission requirements (e.g., altitude, inclination, number of spacecraft)- etc.
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Science Return Diagraming
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Small Body Example: Asteroid Structure
Science Return Level Mission Spatial Scale Temporal Scale
State of the Art
Enhancing
Enabling
Breakthrough
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Science Return Diagraming
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Small Body Example: Asteroid Structure
Science Return Level Mission Spatial Scale Temporal Scale
State of the Art Dawn 35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Enhancing
Enabling
Breakthrough
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Science Return Diagraming
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Small Body Example: Asteroid Structure
Science Return Level Mission Spatial Scale Temporal Scale
State of the Art Dawn 35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Enhancing Dawn s/c at new class of asteroid
35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Enabling
Breakthrough
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Science Return Diagraming
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Small Body Example: Asteroid Structure
Science Return Level Mission Spatial Scale Temporal Scale
State of the Art Dawn 35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Enhancing Dawn s/c at new class of asteroid
35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Enabling
Breakthrough Land on surface and return a sample
450 microns/pixel Continuous
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Science Return Diagraming
9/13/21 18
Small Body Example: Asteroid Structure
Science Return Level Mission Spatial Scale Temporal Scale
State of the Art Dawn 35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Enhancing Dawn s/c at new class of asteroid
35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Enabling Add a magnetometer & laser altimeter
35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Breakthrough Land on surface and return a sample
450 microns/pixel Continuous
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Science Return Diagraming
9/13/21 19
Small Body Example: Asteroid Structure
Science Return Level Mission Spatial Scale Temporal Scale
State of the Art Dawn 35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Enhancing Dawn s/c at new class of asteroid
35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Enabling Add a magnetometer & laser altimeter
35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Breakthrough Land on surface and return a sample
450 microns/pixel Continuous
Baseline Science
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Science Return Diagraming
9/13/21 20
Small Body Example: Asteroid Structure
Science Return Level Mission Spatial Scale Temporal Scale
State of the Art Dawn 35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Enhancing Dawn s/c at new class of asteroid
35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Enabling Add a magnetometer & laser altimeter
35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Breakthrough Land on surface and return a sample
450 microns/pixel Continuous
Baseline ScienceThreshold Science
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Science Return Diagraming
9/13/21 21
Small Body Example: Asteroid Structure
Science Return Level Mission Spatial Scale Temporal Scale
State of the Art Dawn 35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Enhancing Dawn s/c at new class of asteroid
35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Enabling Add a magnetometer & laser altimeter
35 m/pixel 5.5 hours (LAMO)
Breakthrough Land on surface and return a sample
450 microns/pixel Continuous
Baseline ScienceThreshold ScienceCost Cap
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
The Bridge Between the Science Story and the STM
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• The Science Return Diagram (SRD) is the connection between the science story and the STM
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
• The Science Return Diagram (SRD) is the connection between the science story and the STM
• The SRD is used to:- Identify technical values for the Science Traceability Matrix (STM) that
are based on enabling science
• The Science Return Diagram (SRD) is the connection between the science story and the STM
• The SRD is used to:- Identify technical values for the Science Traceability Matrix (STM) that
are based on enabling science- Keeps the STM focused on compelling science rather than a “catch-all”
for all science that could be performed
• The Science Return Diagram (SRD) is the connection between the science story and the STM
• The SRD is used to:- Identify technical values for the Science Traceability Matrix (STM) that
are based on enabling science- Keeps the STM focused on compelling science rather than a “catch-all”
for all science that could be performed- Provide a logical and consistent flow between the science story and
the STM
SRD Benefits and Liabilities
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• Benefits of doing an SRD
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
• Benefits of doing an SRD• Provides:
- An approach for identifying a compelling science mission
• Benefits of doing an SRD• Benefits of doing an SRD• Provides:
- An approach for identifying a compelling science mission- An understanding of what instruments should be included in the science
payload
• Benefits of doing an SRD• Provides:
- An approach for identifying a compelling science mission- An understanding of what instruments should be included in the science
payload- Insight into the Co-I(s) that should be considered for your Science
Investigation Team
• Benefits of doing an SRD• Provides:
- An approach for identifying a compelling science mission- An understanding of what instruments should be included in the science
payload- Insight into the Co-I(s) that should be considered for your Science
Investigation Team
• Liabilities of doing an SRD- Must do an SRD for each science objective
• Benefits of doing an SRD• Provides:
- An approach for identifying a compelling science mission- An understanding of what instruments should be included in the science
payload- Insight into the Co-I(s) that should be considered for your Science
Investigation Team
• Liabilities of doing an SRD- Must do an SRD for each science objective- May be a challenge to reconcile conflicting requirements between
different science objectives
• Benefits of doing an SRD• Provides:
- An approach for identifying a compelling science mission- An understanding of what instruments should be included in the science
payload- Insight into the Co-I(s) that should be considered for your Science
Investigation Team
• Liabilities of doing an SRD- Must do an SRD for each science objective- May be a challenge to reconcile conflicting requirements between
different science objectives- May not give you the answer you want
Final Thoughts
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• NASA is looking for compelling science mission concepts
Developing Your Science Story© 2021 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. US Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
• NASA is looking for compelling science mission concepts
• Compelling science is based on having:- Hypothesis/prediction pairs that can be traced to NASA’s Strategic
Objectives (e.g., the Decadal Surveys)
• NASA is looking for compelling science mission concepts
• Compelling science is based on having:- Hypothesis/prediction pairs that can be traced to NASA’s Strategic
Objectives (e.g., the Decadal Surveys)- A mission concept that produces enabling science
• NASA is looking for compelling science mission concepts
• Compelling science is based on having:- Hypothesis/prediction pairs that can be traced to NASA’s Strategic
Objectives (e.g., the Decadal Surveys)- A mission concept that produces enabling science
• Proposals for NASA’s competed missions must have a baseline and threshold science mission concept
• NASA is looking for compelling science mission concepts
• Compelling science is based on having:- Hypothesis/prediction pairs that can be traced to NASA’s Strategic
Objectives (e.g., the Decadal Surveys)- A mission concept that produces enabling science
• Proposals for NASA’s competed missions must have a baseline and threshold science mission concept
- Be careful not to over commit
• NASA is looking for compelling science mission concepts
• Compelling science is based on having:- Hypothesis/prediction pairs that can be traced to NASA’s Strategic
Objectives (e.g., the Decadal Surveys)- A mission concept that produces enabling science
• Proposals for NASA’s competed missions must have a baseline and threshold science mission concept
- Be careful not to over commit
• SRD identifies the enabling and breakthrough science- Includes temporal and spatial measurement requirements (at the least)