NASA will postpone the launch of its over-budget Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover by two years, to 2011. The delay will add another $400 million to the cost of the mission and will probably force the delay of other agency missions, officials say.
The SUV-sized, nuclear-powered rover, which aims to test whether the planet is or once was capable of supporting life, was originally set to launch in October 2009.
But lingering technical problems will push lift-off until the next Mars launch window in late 2011.
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The rover will be delayed to address a 鈥渂acklog of unresolved work鈥� and undiagnosed problems with the rover鈥檚 actuators, motor-driven gears that move the spacecraft鈥檚 wheels, bend its robotic arm, and drive its drill, NASA administrator Mike Griffin told reporters.
Fixing such issues might only take a few months, and with additional funding, the agency might have rushed to attempt a 2009 launch.
鈥淏ut we鈥檝e determined that trying for 鈥�09 would require us to assume too much risk 鈥� more than I think is appropriate for a flagship mission like Mars Science Laboratory,鈥� Griffin said.
Swelling costs
The added delay will bring the total lifetime cost of the rover mission to more than $2.2 billion. MSL is already $300 million over its proposed 2006 budget of $1.6 billion.
Former NASA science chief Alan Stern criticised such overspends in a recent in the New York Times, arguing that they sharply limit the number and capability of missions the agency can undertake.
But Griffin said the growth in cost is a natural part of ambitious projects with unforeseen difficulties. 鈥淲e know how to control cost 鈥� just build more of what you built the last time,鈥� Griffin said.
Citing the Hubble Space Telescope and the satellite, which cost more than twice as much as their original budgets, Griffin added that 鈥渟ome of the things NASA has done of which we in the nation and indeed the world are most proud are things where we had far more troubles than we鈥檙e having on Mars Science Lab.鈥�
鈥楽cience will be delayed鈥�
NASA may have to draw money from other Mars missions as well as the agency鈥檚 larger planetary exploration programme to pay for the MSL delays, but did not specify which projects would be affected.
鈥淭here will be impacts. Science will be delayed,鈥� Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA鈥檚 Science Mission Directorate, said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l probably have to delay a major planetary mission to come up with the cost.鈥� He added that the scientific community would be party to the decision-making process about which projects to prioritise.
The agency also agreed on Wednesday to collaborate closely with the European Space Agency (ESA) on future Mars missions, Weiler said. Cooperation could begin with ESA鈥檚 ExoMars rover, which is set launch in 2016.
Collaborating with ESA could facilitate plans to deliver Martian samples to Earth, a mission that could cost $6 billion to 8 billion. 鈥淲e鈥檒l never ever do a sample return mission unless we work together,鈥� Weiler told reporters.
In November, NASA decided to drop a box on MSL that was intended to store samples for later retrieval by a sample return mission. The device will be replaced with brushes to keep the rover鈥檚 science instrument openings clear of soil.
