杏吧原创

Mars is living up to its mythological status as the god of war. The Red Planet is the focus of a budgetary battle between NASA and US scientists.

On Monday, a group of scientists protested proposed cuts to the agency鈥檚 Mars programme at a meeting with NASA officials. The cuts were revealed two weeks ago, when the White House released its , in which NASA is set to receive about $1 billion less than previous budget projections suggested.

As a result, the agency said it could no longer afford to contribute to a pair of missions called ExoMars, intended to search for signs of life and being developed with the European Space Agency for launch in 2016 and 2018. NASA says the cuts mean that bringing Martian soil samples back to Earth for detailed study 鈥� which the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) ranks as the top priority for planetary science research in the next decade 鈥� will have to be delayed indefinitely.

In an apparent bid to ease tensions, NASA announced on Monday that it was assembling a group to reformulate its Mars programme 鈥渋n light of current funding constraints鈥�. Headed by former NASA 鈥淢ars tsar鈥� , it will put together a framework for funding and planning smaller Mars missions beginning as early as 2018, when Mars鈥檚 position will be ideal for a launch.

Icy moon

What a smaller 2018 mission would do is still unclear, although with a NASA-estimated budget of $700 million, it would almost certainly just orbit the Red Planet rather than landing on it.

But raising the possibility of a 2018 Mars mission, however simple it is, has upset other planetary scientists. They point out that the second-highest priority in the NAS鈥檚 鈥渄ecadal survey鈥� of goals is a mission to Jupiter鈥檚 moon Europa, which is thought to harbour a liquid ocean 鈥� and therefore potentially life 鈥� beneath its icy crust.

If the space agency cannot pay for a Mars sample-return mission, , they say, adding that they have worked to reduce the cost of such a mission.

鈥楩ollow the rules鈥�

鈥淚f there鈥檚 a large mission, it should be Europa,鈥� says of NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. 鈥淚f there鈥檚 [only money for] a medium-class mission, it should follow the decadal survey rules too and not just be handed to Mars 鈥� unless it鈥檚 going to directly lead to sample return.鈥�

He and others hope it won鈥檛 come down to a choice between the two. 鈥淚t is essential that we restore the Mars programme without taking money from other areas of planetary science,鈥� says Mars researcher of Arizona State University in Tempe. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 do either the Mars or outer-planet science communities any good to fight amongst ourselves.鈥�

But where would the money for all these missions come from? Pappalardo hopes that the US Congress, which ultimately controls NASA鈥檚 purse strings, will restore some of the agency鈥檚 budget.

Given the wrangling in Congress over funding, expect more Mars wars ahead.