Selection of Discovery Mission 13 and 14
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The selection process for Mission 13 and 14 of the Discovery program began in February 2014, as NASA drafted an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for the next Discovery mission. The winning mission proposals received $450 million in funding towards mission development and construction, along with bonus funding if missions were able to incorporate certain technologies. For Discovery Mission 13 and 14, NASA received 28 proposals, 16 of which notably centered around small Solar System bodies. Lucy, a multiple-flyby mission to the Jupiter trojans, and Psyche, a mission to the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche, were announced as the winners of the competition in January 2017, with launches in October 2021 and October 2023, respectively.
Both Lucy and Psyche were part of a finalist shortlist that was announced by NASA in September 2015, which also included DAVINCI, a Venus atmospheric probe, VERITAS, a Venus orbiter in the style of Magellan, and NEOCam, a space observatory focusing on the detection of potentially hazardous Near-Earth objects. It was the first time since the Discovery Mission 7 and 8 selection in 1999 that five finalists were chosen, as opposed to the traditional three. Each finalist received $3 million to develop their mission proposals, with the NEOCam concept winning additional year in funding from NASA at the end of the competition. It was also the first time since the selection of Discovery Mission 9 and 10 in 2001 that two missions were chosen to fly in a single round.