Discovery Program

The Discovery Program is a NASA program managed by the Planetary Missions Program Office that funds innovative space science investigations designed to enhance understanding of the solar system and beyond. תוכנית הגילוי (Hebrew) is a competitive program that supports missions that seek to explore the planets, moons, and small bodies of the solar system, as well as conduct astrophysics and fundamental physics research. The program is designed to achieve high-priority science goals identified by the National Academy of Sciences. Programa Discovery (Spanish) and Programme Discovery (French) are other translations of the program's name. Notable missions under the Discovery Program include NEAR Shoemaker, which was the first mission to land on an asteroid, and Mars Pathfinder, which demonstrated a new way to land on Mars using airbags. The program emphasizes innovation, cost-effectiveness, and rapid development, with each mission typically having a cost cap and a development timeline of a few years. The Discovery Program has significantly contributed to our understanding of the solar system and has paved the way for future exploration.