IN-SPACE PROPULSION
Develop in-space propulsion technologies that can enable or benefit science at new destinations; to significantly reduce the time, cost and mass required for spacecraft to reach their destinations
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What is Advanced Chemical Propulsion technology?
Robotic spacecraft for science missions often include on-board propulsion systems to add the additional velocity needed to reach their final destinations beyond Earth orbit.  Conventional chemical (fuel/oxidizer) propulsion is suitable for many of these applications, but advanced technology in development by this office will reduce the mass and improve the performance of those systems in a variety of ways, enabling more science payload to be carried.  For more information, visit Planetary Science Division's In-Space Propulsion Technology Project website.

What are Solar Sail Propulsion and Aerocapture Technology?
These are two unique propulsion technologies that use little or no propellant to provide thrust to a spacecraft. Solar Sails are very large, very lightweight "gossamer" structures that can propel a low-mass science spacecraft to very high speeds, or maintain a spacecraft at a desired location in space, by utilizing the pressure of sunlight. Aerocapture is a technique for making a precisely controlled high speed descent into a planet's atmosphere to scrub off within the first pass the exact amount of speed necessary to achieve the desired orbit. Aerocapture's benefit is that spacecraft don't need to carry large amounts of propellant for reverse thrusting, and they can reach the destination and start gathering science data much sooner. For more information, visit Planetary Science Division's In-Space Propulsion Technology Project website.

What is Earth Science technology?
This office manages a number of technology developments in support of Earth Sciences, primarily in the areas of surface and atmospheric observation for weather prediction and data management.  For more information, click here.