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From the Executive DirectorBudget Axe Falls on Mars Science Laboratory -- Science Plans for the Mission Cut
September 18 , 2007 NASA announced that science plans for the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission are being reduced. Five of the eight science instruments are affected, either by outright removal or by constraints to their development. Two instruments are being removed: the Mars Descent Imaging Camera and a rock grinding tool that would have been used to image and measure chemical and mineral content inside of rocks. The rock-grinding tool is being replaced by a "brushing tool," which will only permit measurements on the surface of rocks. In addition, the zoom capability is being removed from the camera that will sit on the rover's mass. NASA has also stopped funding for the scientifically important and very interesting Laser-induced Remote Sensing for Chemistry and Micro-imaging (ChemCam) in the hope that other sponsors will provide funds. The instrument is being developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, with major contributions from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ocean Optics Inc., and the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique. The ChemCam instrument has two parts: a mast package and a body unit. On the mast will be a laser for vaporizing surfaces, a telescope to focus the laser, and a remote micro-imaging camera. "The loss to science on MSL seems out of proportion," said Wesley T. Huntress, Jr., former NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and member of the Society's Board of Directors. "The goal of MSL is to conduct science, and to throw out so much of the mission science objectives for less than 4 percent of the mission cost, and for assurance costs that have net yet been realized, seems penny-wise and pound-foolish," he added. Two other science instruments on the mission were cost-capped: the Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Suite with Gas Chromatograph, Mass Spectrometer, and Tunable Laser Spectrometer (SAM), and the Chemistry & Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction/X-Ray Fluorescence Instrument (CheMin). The magnitude and impact of the cost-caps has not yet been described. NASA's Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, Alan Stern described the changes as focused and prudent, necessitated by a $75 million shortfall in project "reserves" to ensure its success. The science cuts amount to a small percentage of this reserve amount (no specifics were given as to how much) and were part of other reductions in design complexity and planned spares, some simplifications of flight software, and some ground test program changes -- all intended to reduce mission risk and create larger project reserves. The Science Mission Directorate in NASA had insufficient funds in either the Mars program or other reserves to make up for the estimated shortfall. The Planetary Society notes that this is a result of a series of cuts to the Mars program and to space science plans made over the past two years, stemming from the Administration's decision in 2006 to fund shuttle program shortfalls by cutting funds from space science. The Planetary Society has requested Congressional review of the budget cuts to the MSL science payload. Download a copy of the letter sent from The Planetary Society to representatives of the U.S. Congress (PDF 330K) » Comments? We welcome your opinions on this subject. Send us email! |
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