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Rapid Cost Assessment of Space Mission Concepts through Application of Complexity IndicesIn 2005, the Solar System Exploration Strategic Roadmap Conmrittee (chartered by NASA to develop the roadmap for Solar System Exploration Missions for the coming decades) found itself posed with the difficult problem of sorting through several mission concepts and determining their relative costs. While detailed mission studies are the normal approach to costing, neither the budget nor schedule allotted to the conmrittee could support such studies. Members of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) supporting the conmrittee were given the challenge of developing a semi-quantitative approach that could provide the relative costs of these missions, without requiring an in depth study of the missions. In response to this challenge, a rapid cost assessment methodology based on a set of mission cost/complexity indexes was developed. This methodology also underwent two separate validations, one comparing its results when applied to historical missions, and another comparing its estimates against those of veteran space mission managers. Remarkably good agreement was achieved, suggesting that this approach provides an effective early indication of space mission costs.
Document ID
20090019042
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
External Source(s)
Authors
Peterson, Craig
Cutts, James
Balint, Tibor
Hall, James B.
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 2008
Subject Category
Statistics And Probability
Report/Patent Number
IEEEAC Paper-1632 Version 1
Meeting Information
Meeting: IEEE Aerospace Conference
Location: Montana
Country: United States
Start Date: March 1, 2008
End Date: March 8, 2008
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
mission studies
mission costs

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