WASHINGTON (CNN) — NASA’s launch of the Mars Science Laboratory — hampered by technical difficulties and price overruns — has been delayed till fall 2011, NASA officers mentioned at a information convention Thursday in Washington.
A photograph illustration of a laser-equipped automobile that may kind a part of the Mars Science Laboratory.
The mission was scheduled for launch within the fall of 2009.
The Mars Science Lab is a big nuclear-powered rover designed to journey lengthy distances with a collection of scientific devices on board.
In keeping with NASA’s web site, it’s a part of a “long-term robotic exploration effort” established to “examine the early environmental historical past of Mars” and assess whether or not Mars was or nonetheless is able to supporting life. .
The launch delay, based on NASA, is because of a sequence of “{hardware} exams and challenges that should (nonetheless) be addressed to make sure mission success.”
“Progress in current weeks has not come shortly sufficient to resolve technical challenges and convey {hardware} collectively,” mentioned Charles Elachi, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
The swap to a 2011 launch “will permit for cautious decision of any remaining technical points, satisfactory and thorough testing, and keep away from a mad rush to launch,” argued NASA Affiliate Administrator Ed Weiler.
In keeping with NASA spokesman Dwayne Browne, the general price of the Mars Science Laboratory is anticipated to be roughly $2.1 billion. The challenge was initially priced at $1.6 billion.
NASA’s whole finances for the present fiscal 12 months, based on Browne, is roughly $15 billion.
In keeping with NASA, the mars The rover will use new applied sciences and be designed to discover larger distances over rougher terrain than earlier missions to the planet. This shall be achieved partially by utilizing a brand new floor propulsion system.
“Failure isn’t an possibility on this mission,” Weiler mentioned. “The science is just too essential and the funding of American taxpayer {dollars} forces us to be completely positive that we’ve got achieved all the things potential to make sure the success of this flagship planetary mission.”
Weiler mentioned that primarily based on the company’s preliminary assessments, the extra prices linked to the Science Lab’s launch delay wouldn’t outcome within the cancellation of different NASA applications within the subsequent two years. Nevertheless, he admitted it will trigger different unspecified program delays.
Critics have charged that the delay and price overruns related to the Mars Science Laboratory are indicative of an company that’s tormented by an absence of accountability and inefficiency in its administration of time and taxpayer {dollars}.
“The Mars Science Laboratory is simply the newest symptom of a NASA tradition that has misplaced management of spending,” wrote former NASA affiliate administrator Alan Stern in a Nov. 24 op-ed within the New York Occasions. “A most cancers is overtaking our house company: the routine acceptance of huge price will increase of the initiatives. .”
Stern charged that the company’s price overruns are being fueled by “managers who conceal the dimensions of the price will increase that missions incur” and “members of Congress who settle for giant will increase to guard native jobs.”
Browne responded in a written assertion saying that NASA directors are “consistently working to enhance (the company’s) price estimating capabilities. … We frequently evaluate our initiatives to know the true threat when it comes to efficiency, price and schedule.” .
“The actual fact of life at NASA, the place we’re tasked with creating the primary missions of scientific discovery, is that estimating the prices of … science might be virtually as troublesome as truly doing the science,” Browne mentioned. .
NASA’s most up-to-date Mars challenge — the Phoenix Mars Lander mission — ended final month after the solar-powered automobile’s batteries died on account of a mud storm and the onset of the Martian winter. It had operated two months into its preliminary three-month mission.
NASA officers had landed the automobile on an Arctic plain after satellite tv for pc observations indicated that there have been giant quantities of frozen water in that space, more than likely within the type of permafrost. They thought that place can be a promising place to search for natural chemical substances that might point out a liveable surroundings.
Scientists have been in a position to confirm the presence of water ice within the Martian subsurface, discover small concentrations of salts that could possibly be vitamins for all times and observe snow falling from the clouds, NASA mentioned Thursday.
All about Mars exploration • NASA
