NASA Discovery Program

E149386

NASA program planetary science mission planetary science mission line

The NASA Discovery Program is a series of competitively selected, cost-capped planetary science missions designed to achieve high scientific return with relatively small, focused spacecraft.

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All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
NASA Discovery Program canonical	11
Discovery Program	3
NASA Discovery Program 13	1
NASA Discovery-class mission	1
NASA Discovery-class technology demonstration missions	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1308325 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: NASA Discovery Program
Context triple: [NASA Science Mission Directorate, oversees, NASA Discovery Program]

A. Artemis program
The Artemis program is NASA’s ongoing initiative to return humans to the Moon, establish a sustainable lunar presence, and prepare for future crewed missions to Mars.
B. Mars Exploration Program
The Mars Exploration Program is NASA’s long-term robotic initiative to explore Mars’ climate, geology, and potential for past or present life using orbiters, landers, and rovers.
C. NASA Science Mission Directorate
The NASA Science Mission Directorate is the division of NASA responsible for planning and overseeing the agency’s science programs and missions that explore Earth, the solar system, and the universe.
D. NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate
The NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate is the division of NASA responsible for developing and demonstrating cutting-edge space technologies to enable future missions and advance U.S. leadership in space.
E. NASA spacecraft
NASA spacecraft are robotic or crewed vehicles designed, built, and operated by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration for space exploration, scientific research, and technology demonstration beyond Earth's atmosphere.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: NASA Discovery Program
Target entity description: The NASA Discovery Program is a series of competitively selected, cost-capped planetary science missions designed to achieve high scientific return with relatively small, focused spacecraft.

A. Artemis program
The Artemis program is NASA’s ongoing initiative to return humans to the Moon, establish a sustainable lunar presence, and prepare for future crewed missions to Mars.
B. Mars Exploration Program
The Mars Exploration Program is NASA’s long-term robotic initiative to explore Mars’ climate, geology, and potential for past or present life using orbiters, landers, and rovers.
C. NASA Science Mission Directorate
The NASA Science Mission Directorate is the division of NASA responsible for planning and overseeing the agency’s science programs and missions that explore Earth, the solar system, and the universe.
D. NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate
The NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate is the division of NASA responsible for developing and demonstrating cutting-edge space technologies to enable future missions and advance U.S. leadership in space.
E. NASA spacecraft
NASA spacecraft are robotic or crewed vehicles designed, built, and operated by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration for space exploration, scientific research, and technology demonstration beyond Earth's atmosphere.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	NASA program ⓘ planetary science mission ⓘ planetary science mission line ⓘ
comparedTo	NASA Flagship Program ⓘ
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
emphasis	focused science objectives ⓘ rapid development compared to flagship missions ⓘ
field	planetary science ⓘ
firstMission	NEAR Shoemaker ⓘ
focus	principal-investigator-led missions ⓘ
fundingModel	cost-capped ⓘ
inception	1992 ⓘ
launchDate	1996-02-17 ⓘ
mission	CONTOUR ⓘ DAVINCI ⓘ Dawn ⓘ Deep Impact ⓘ GRAIL ⓘ Genesis ⓘ InSight ⓘ Kepler ⓘ Lucy ⓘ Lunar Prospector ⓘ MESSENGER ⓘ Mars Pathfinder ⓘ NEAR Shoemaker ⓘ Psyche ⓘ Stardust ⓘ VERITAS ⓘ
missionClass	small-class planetary missions ⓘ
missionType	uncrewed ⓘ
notableMission	Dawn ⓘ InSight ⓘ Kepler ⓘ
operator	NASA ⓘ
parentAgency	NASA Science Mission Directorate ⓘ
partOf	NASA Planetary Science Division ⓘ
program	NASA Discovery Program ⓘ
purpose	to achieve high scientific return with relatively small focused spacecraft ⓘ to conduct cost-capped planetary science missions ⓘ
scienceDiscipline	exoplanets ⓘ planetary atmospheres ⓘ planetary interiors ⓘ planetary surfaces ⓘ small bodies of the Solar System ⓘ
selectionMethod	competitive peer review ⓘ
spaceAgency	NASA ⓘ
status	ongoing ⓘ
target	433 Eros ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (17)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

NASA Science Mission Directorate → oversees → NASA Discovery Program ⓘ

Dawn → program → NASA Discovery Program ⓘ

subject linked to: Dawn mission

Kepler space telescope → program → NASA Discovery Program ⓘ

Kepler space telescope → fundingProgram → NASA Discovery-class mission ⓘ