Mars Science Laboratory FEIS

This file is available on a Cryptome DVD offered by Cryptome. Donate $25 for a DVD of the Cryptome 10-year archives of 35,000 files from June 1996 to June 2006 (~3.5 GB). Click Paypal or mail check/MO made out to John Young, 251 West 89th Street, New York, NY 10024. Archives include all files of cryptome.org, cryptome2.org, jya.com, cartome.org, eyeball-series.org and iraq-kill-maim.org. Cryptome offers with the Cryptome DVD an INSCOM DVD of about 18,000 pages of counter-intelligence dossiers declassified by the US Army Information and Security Command, dating from 1945 to 1985. No additional contribution required -- $25 for both. The DVDs will be sent anywhere worldwide without extra cost.

21 November 2006

[Federal Register: November 21, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 224)]

[Notices]

[Page 67389-67391]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr21no06-71]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Notice (06-085)

National Environmental Policy Act; Mars Science Laboratory

Mission

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of final environmental impact statement

(FEIS) for implementation of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as

amended (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Council on Environmental

Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA

(40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), and NASA policy and procedures (14 CFR Part

1216 subpart 1216.3), NASA has prepared and issued a FEIS for the

proposed MSL mission. The FEIS addresses the potential environmental

impacts associated with implementing the mission. The purpose of this

proposal is to explore the surface of Mars with a mobile science

laboratory (hereinafter called the ``rover''). This environmental

impact statement (EIS) is a tiered document (Tier 2 EIS) under NASA's

Programmatic EIS for the Mars Exploration Program (MEP). The FEIS

presents descriptions of the proposed MSL mission, spacecraft, and

candidate launch vehicles; an overview of the affected environment at

and near the launch site; and the potential environmental consequences

associated with the Proposed Action and alternatives, including the No

Action Alternative.

The MSL mission is planned for launch during the September-November

2009 time period from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS),

Florida, on an expendable launch vehicle. The arrival date at Mars

would range from mid-July 2010 to not later than mid-October 2010,

depending on the exact launch date and the yet to be determined landing

site on the surface of Mars. Using advanced instrumentation, the MSL

rover would strive to acquire significant detailed information

regarding the habitability of Mars from a scientifically promising

location on the surface. The mission would also fulfill NASA's

strategic technology goals of increasing the mass of science payloads

delivered to the surface of Mars, expanding access to higher and lower

latitudes, increasing precision landing capability, and increasing

traverse capability (mobility) to distances on the order of several

kilometers.

The FEIS evaluates two alternatives in addition to the No Action

Alternative. Under the Proposed Action (Alternative 1, NASA's Preferred

Alternative), the proposed MSL rover would utilize a radioisotope power

system, a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG),

as its primary source of electrical power to operate and conduct

science on the surface of Mars. Under Alternative 2, an MSL rover would

utilize solar energy as its primary source of electrical power to

operate and conduct science on the surface of Mars.

DATES: NASA will take no final action on the proposed MSL mission on or

before December 21, 2006, or 30 days from the date of publication in

the Federal Register of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

notice of availability of the MSL FEIS, whichever is later.

ADDRESSES: The FEIS may be reviewed at the following locations:

(a) NASA Headquarters, Library, Room 1J20, 300 E Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20546-0001;

(b) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Visitors Lobby, Building 249, 4800

Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109.

[[Page 67390]]

Hard copies of the FEIS also may be examined at other NASA Centers

(see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below).

Limited hard copies of the FEIS are available, on a first request

basis, by contacting Mark R. Dahl at the address, telephone number, or

electronic mail address indicated below. The FEIS is also available in

Adobe[supreg] portable document format at http://spacescience.nasa.gov/admin/pubs/msl/index.htm.

NASA's Record of Decision (ROD) will also be

placed on that Web site when it is issued. Anyone who desires a hard

copy of NASA's ROD when it is issued should so indicate by contacting

Mr. Dahl.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark R. Dahl, Planetary Science

Division, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington,

DC 20546-0001, telephone 202-358-4800, or electronic mail

mep.nepa@hq.nasa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The MEP is currently being implemented as a

sustained series of flight missions to Mars, each of which will provide

important, focused scientific return. The MEP is fundamentally a

science driven program whose focus is on understanding and

characterizing Mars as a dynamic system and ultimately addressing

whether life is or was ever a part of that system. The core MEP

addresses the highest priority scientific investigations directly

related to the Program goals and objectives. MSL investigations would

be a means of addressing several of the high-priority scientific

investigations recommended to NASA by the planetary science community.

The overall scientific goals of the MSL mission can be divided into

four areas: (1) Assess the biological potential of at least one

selected site on Mars; (2) characterize the geology and geochemistry of

the landing region at all appropriate spatial scales; (3) investigate

planetary processes of relevance to past habitability; and (4)

characterize the broad spectrum of the Martian surface radiation

environment. The following specific objectives are planned for the

mission to address these goals:

--Determine the nature and inventory of organic carbon compounds;

--Inventory the chemical building blocks of life (carbon, hydrogen,

nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur);

--Identify features that may represent the effects of biological

processes;

--Investigate the chemical, isotopic, and mineralogical composition of

Martian surface and near-surface geological materials;

--Interpret the processes that have formed and modified rocks and

regolith;

--Assess long-timescale (i.e., 4-billion-year) atmospheric evolution

processes; and

--Determine the present state, distribution, and cycling of water and

carbon dioxide.

The proposed MSL mission would utilize a rover with advanced

instrumentation to acquire significant detailed information regarding

the habitability of Mars from a scientifically promising location. The

mission would also fulfill NASA's strategic technology goals of

increasing the mass of science payloads delivered to the surface of

Mars, expanding access to higher and lower latitudes, increasing

precision landing capability, and increasing traverse capability

(mobility) to distances on the order of several kilometers.

Mobility is essential because evidence for past or present life on

Mars will very likely not be so abundant or widespread that it will be

available in the immediate vicinity of the selected landing site.

Without the mobility necessary to conduct in situ exploration, it may

not be possible to uniquely characterize a target location.

The Proposed Action (Alternative 1, NASA's Preferred Alternative)

consists of continuing preparations for and implementing the MSL

mission to Mars. The proposed MSL rover would utilize a MMRTG as its

primary source of electrical power to operate and conduct science on

the surface of Mars. Under Alternative 2, NASA would discontinue

preparations for the Proposed Action (Alternative 1) and implement an

alternative MSL mission to Mars. The alternative MSL rover would

utilize solar energy as its primary source of electrical power to

operate and conduct science on the surface of Mars. With either the

Proposed Action (Alternative 1) or Alternative 2, the MSL spacecraft

would be launched on board an expendable launch vehicle from CCAFS,

Florida during the September--November 2009 time period. Under the No

Action Alternative, NASA would discontinue preparations for the MSL

mission, and the spacecraft would not be launched.

With either the Proposed Action (Alternative 1) or Alternative 2,

the potentially affected environment for a normal launch includes the

area at and in the vicinity of the launch site, CCAFS in Florida. The

environmental impacts of a normal launch of the mission for either

alternative would be associated principally with the exhaust emissions

from the expendable launch vehicle. These effects would include: (1)

Short-term impacts on air quality within the exhaust cloud and near the

launch pad; and (2) the potential for acidic deposition on the

vegetation and surface water bodies at and near the launch complex.

Potential launch accidents could result in the release of some of

the radioactive material on board the spacecraft. The MMRTG planned for

use on the rover for the Proposed Action (Alternative 1) would use

approximately 4.8 kilograms (10.6 pounds) of plutonium dioxide to

provide electrical power. For either alternative, two of the science

instruments on the rover would use small quantities of radioactive

material, totaling approximately two curies, for instrument calibration

or science experiments.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in cooperation with NASA, has

performed a risk assessment of potential accidents for the MSL mission.

This assessment used a methodology refined through applications to the

Galileo, Ulysses, Cassini, Mars Exploration Rover, and New Horizons

missions. DOE's risk assessment for the proposed MSL mission indicates

that in the event of a launch accident the expected impacts of released

radioactive material at and in the vicinity of the launch area, and on

a global basis, would be small. Alternative 2 would not involve any

MMRTG-associated radiological risks since an MMRTG would not be used

for this mission alternative.

The FEIS may be reviewed at the following public libraries in

Florida:

(a) Central Brevard Public Library and Reference Center, 308

Forrest Avenue, Cocoa, FL 32922;

(b) Cocoa Beach Public Library, 550 North Brevard Avenue, Cocoa

Beach, FL 32931;

32901;

(d) Merritt Island Public Library, 1195 North Courtenay Parkway,

Merritt Island, FL 32953;

(e) Port St. John Public Library, 6500 Carole Avenue, Port St.

John, FL 32927;

(f) Titusville Public Library, 2121 South Hopkins Avenue,

Titusville, FL 32780.

The FEIS also may be examined at the following NASA locations by

contacting the pertinent Freedom of Information Office:

(a) NASA, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (650-604-

3273);

(b) NASA, Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA 93523 (661-

276-2704);

[[Page 67391]]

(866-404-3642);

(d) NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (301-

286-4721);

(e) NASA, Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058 (281-483-8612);

(f) NASA, Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899 (321-867-2745);

(g) NASA, Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681 (757-864-

2497);

(h) NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812 (256-

544-1837); and

(i) NASA, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529 (228-688-2118).

NASA published a Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft EIS

(DEIS) for the MSL mission in the Federal Register on September 5,

2006, (71 FR 52347) and made the DEIS available in electronic format on

its Web site. The EPA published its NOA in the Federal Register on

September 8, 2006, (71 FR 53093). In addition, NASA published its NOA

in local newspapers in the Cape Canaveral, Florida regional area, and

in Washington, DC, and held public meetings in Cocoa, Florida on

September 27, 2006, and in Washington, DC on October 10, 2006, during

which attendees were invited to present both oral and written comments

on the DEIS. Three comments relevant to the DEIS were presented at

these meetings. NASA received 44 written comment submissions, both

hardcopy and electronic, during the comment period ending October 23,

2006. The comments are addressed in the FEIS.

Olga M. Dominguez,

Assistant Administrator for Infrastructure and Administration.

[FR Doc. E6-19610 Filed 11-20-06; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7510-13-P