[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 228 (Monday, November 29, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66668-66669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-30864]


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[NOTICE 99-147]


National Environmental Policy Act; Mars Surveyor 2001 Mission

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of draft environmental impact statement 
(DEIS) for implementation of the Mars Surveyor 2001 (MS 01) mission.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA), as amended (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 DEIS for the MS 01 mission. The DEIS addresses the potential 
environmental impacts associated with continuing the preparations for 
and implementing the MS 01 mission. The purpose of this proposal is to 
continue global reconnaissance of Mars and perform surface exploration.
    The mission is planned to consist of two components. NASA proposes 
to launch an orbiter spacecraft from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), 
California in March-April 2001, and a lander/rover spacecraft from Cape 
Canaveral Air Station (CCAS), Florida in April 2001. The orbiter would 
be launched aboard a Delta II 7925, while the lander/rover would be 
launched aboard a Delta II 7425. The lander/rover would include four 
small radioactive sources for instrument calibration and would use 
three radioisotope heater units (RHU's) for thermal control. The 
orbiter would carry no radioactive material.

DATES: Interested parties are invited to submit comments or 
environmental concerns on or before January 13, 2000, or 45 days from 
the date of publication in the Federal Register of the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency's notice of availability of the MS 01 
mission DEIS, whichever is later.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Mr. Mark R. Dahl, NASA 
Headquarters, Code SD, Washington, DC

[[Page 66669]]

20546-0001. While hard copy comments are preferred, comments by 
electronic mail may be sent to [email protected]. The DEIS may be 
reviewed at the following locations:
    (a) NASA Headquarters, Library, Room 1J20, 300 E Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20546.
    (b) Spaceport U.S.A., Room 2001, John F. Kennedy Space Center, FL 
32899. Please call Lisa Fowler beforehand at 407-867-2497 so that 
arrangements can be made.
    (c) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Visitors Lobby, Building 249, 4800 
Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (818-354-5179).
    In addition, the DEIS may be examined at the following NASA 
locations by contacting the pertinent Freedom of Information Act 
Office:
    (d) NASA, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (650-604-
4191).
    (e) NASA, Dryden Flight Research Center, P.O. Box 273, Edwards, CA 
93523 (661-258-3449).
    (f) NASA, Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field, 21000 Brookpark 
Road, Cleveland, OH 44135 (216-433-2755).
    (g) NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, 
MD 20771 (301-286-0730).
    (h) NASA, Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058 (281-483-8612).
    (i) NASA, Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681 (757-864-
2497).
    (j) NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812 (256-
544-2030).
    (k) NASA, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529 (228-688-2164).
    Limited hard copies of the DEIS are available, on a first request 
basis, by contacting Mark Dahl at the address or telephone number 
indicated herein.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark R. Dahl, 202-358-1544; electronic 
mail ([email protected]). The DEIS also is available in 
Acrobat format at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oss or http:/
/www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oss/mars.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: MS 01 mission is part of a series of 
missions to characterize Mars' atmosphere, geologic history, climate, 
and the relationship to Earth's climate change process. These missions 
aim to determine what resources Mars provides for future exploration, 
and to search for evidence of past and present life. The MS 01 mission 
would specifically continue the global reconnaissance of Mars via an 
orbiter spacecraft, and continue the intense study of local areas of 
the surface via a lander/rover spacecraft.
    The proposed action consists of continuing preparations for and 
implementing the MS 01 mission. The MS 01 orbiter would be launched on 
a Delta II 7925 from VAFB in March-April 2001. The MS 01 lander 
carrying the rover would be launched on a Delta II 7425 from CCAS in 
April 2001. Alternatives that were evaluated included an Orbiter-and-
Lander-Only mission, an Orbiter-Only mission, and the No-Action 
alternative.
    For the MS 01 mission, the potentially affected environment for 
normal launches includes the areas at and in the vicinity of the two 
launch sites, CCAS in Florida and VAFB in California. The environmental 
impacts of normal launches of the two spacecraft for the proposed 
action would be associated principally with the exhaust emissions from 
each of the Delta II launch vehicles. These effects would include 
short-term impacts on air quality within the exhaust cloud and near the 
launch pads, and the potential for acidic deposition on the vegetation 
and surface water bodies at and near each launch complex, particularly 
if a rain storm occurred. The potential exists for disturbance of some 
protected wildlife species, which has been addressed by the U.S. Air 
Force and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pursuant to consultations 
under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, and incidental take 
permits and mitigation plans are in place.
    A concern associated with launch of the MS 01 lander/rover 
spacecraft involves potential launch accidents that could result in the 
release of some of the radioactive material on board the lander/rover 
spacecraft. The lander would employ two instruments which use small 
quantities of cobalt-57 (1.30 x 10 \10\ Becquerels or 350 millicuries) 
and curium-242 (up to 7.40 x 10 \5\ Becquerels or 20 microcuries) as 
instrument sources. The rover would have three RHU's that use plutonium 
dioxide to provide heat to the electronics and batteries on board the 
rover. The radioisotope inventory of the three RHU's would total 
approximately 3.69 x 10 \12\ Becquerels (99.6 curies) of plutonium. The 
rover would also carry curium-244 (up to 3.70 x 10 \9\ Becquerels or 
100 millicuries)) on its spectrometer and a small americium-241 source 
(up to 1.11 x 10 \6\ Becquerels or 30 microcuries) on a dust experiment 
package.
    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in cooperation with NASA, has 
performed a risk assessment of potential accidents for the MS 01 
lander/rover. This assessment used a methodology refined through 
applications to the Galileo, Cassini, and Mars Pathfinder missions and 
incorporates safety tests on the RHU's, as well as evaluation of the 
January 17, 1997, Delta II accident at CCAS. DOE's risk assessment for 
this 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.
Jeffrey E. Sutton,
Associate Administrator for Management Systems.
[FR Doc. 99-30864 Filed 11-26-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7510-01-P