From the article:
The University of Arizona has lost out on $425 million in NASA funding after the space agency selected a competing proposal for its next Discovery Class mission.
The UA's OSIRIS mission, which would have launched a spacecraft to collect and return material from a near-Earth asteroid, was one of three finalists competing for the NASA funding. NASA officials announced this week that another finalist, a moon mission known as GRAIL, will move forward.
"It was a bit of a shock, frankly," said Michael Drake, director of the UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and principal investigator for OSIRIS.
The lab will continue to seek funding for the asteroid-sample-return mission, modifying the proposal based on feedback from NASA officials. The ongoing Discovery program aims to launch a mission every 12 to 24 months.
Link: Article
"NASA turns down UA asteroid plan Proposal to collect, return material was one of three project finalists
Eric Swedlund
Arizona Daily Star
14 December 2007
Link: NASA Discovery Program announcement about the lunar Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission
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