The independent review committee’s findings suggest that NASA’s quest to return samples from Mars is fraught with challenges and seemingly impossible to accomplish under current cost and schedule expectations.
NASA releases final plan report On Thursday, it announced it had set up its own team to review the Mars Sample Return (MSR) report and make recommendations on how to proceed with the mission by the second quarter of 2024. Meanwhile, the space agency has suspended its activities. We plan to confirm the official mission cost and schedule.
The report described the mission as a “highly constrained and challenging campaign” that “had unrealistic budget and schedule expectations from the outset.”
mars sample return It is one of the most complex missions ever attempted by the space agency, involving a fleet of spacecraft including an orbiter, a lander, two helicopters, and a rocket. It is scheduled to be assembled and sent to Mars by 2028. The report states, however, that the chances of the lander and orbiter being ready for launch in 2028 are “nearly zero.” Instead, the review committee is proposing to aim to be ready for launch in 2030 instead.
NASA is having trouble budgeting and scheduling Mars sample return missions. NASA wrote that the space agency formed an independent review committee in May to “evaluate the technical, cost, and schedule plans before confirming the mission design.”
“An independent review board like the one we commissioned for Mars Sample Return will help us review whether we are on the right track to achieve our mission goals within the appropriate budget.”NASA Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science Sandra Connelly said in a statement.
The space agency has not yet released a formal cost estimate for the sample return mission. 2020, NASA and ESA Estimation The mission requires a total cost of at least $7 billion, but there are concerns it will go over budget. A new report suggests the full lifecycle cost of the mission is likely to be in the range of $8 billion to $11 billion.
The mission received $822.3 million in the 2023 spending bill, and NASA requested $949.3 million for Mars sample return in its report. Budget proposal for 2024. In April, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson revealed the following about the Mars sample return mission: An additional $250 million is needed this fiscal yearan additional $250 million in 2024 to keep it on track for a 2028 launch.
In NASA’s 2024 budget proposal, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Directed space agencies to submit annual funding profiles for the MSR. It falls within the $5.3 billion lifecycle cost outlined in the 2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey. If NASA is unable to do so, it could face mission cancellation, the subcommittee wrote in its July report.
“Mars Sample Return is a highly complex program and campaign with multiple parallel developments, interfaces and complexities,” Orlando Figueroa, chair of the independent review committee, said in a statement. “The development of this historic initiative comes after decades of strategic investment.”
The independent review committee emphasized the importance of Mars sample return as a strategic step in the space agency’s Mars exploration program, which aims to one day land humans on Mars. Rock samples currently being collected by the Perseverance rover may contain clues to whether there was ever any life on Mars, and could ultimately lead to the existence of life beyond Earth. It will answer the question whether or not.
In fact, the report calls on NASA to better communicate the importance of sample return missions. “The social, technical, and scientific importance of the MSR makes it the most important mission in NASA’s long-term exploration strategy, but this is not consistently and clearly communicated to the public and stakeholders. ” says the report. “If the MSR campaign is successful, it will revolutionize our understanding of Mars’ history, the solar system, and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.”
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