Oct. 7, 2008 -- A sophisticated NASA rover slated to blast off to chemically analyze Mars for life may be delayed, modified or canceled due to cost overruns triggered by technical problems. Managers of the Mars Science Laboratory mission are meeting with top NASA officials this week in an attempt to find a solution to the quagmire. "They're looking for a way to work this out," Guy Webster, a spokesman for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., told Discovery News. Costs for the rover, originally projected at $1.2 billion, have climbed to more than $1.5 billion. Additional problems loom. The project faces cancellation if it reaches 30 percent over budget, a scenario that seems increasingly likely, Aviation Week and Space Technology reported this week. Mars Science Lab is scheduled for launch next year, but its assembly is behind schedule. NASA is concerned that rushing contractors to meet the launch window is an invitation to disaster. Yet delaying the launch until the next time Earth and Mars are favorably aligned would add another $300 million to $400 million to the endeavor. Related Content: Discovery News blog: Free Space IM Interview: Digging for Signs of Life on Mars How Stuff Works: How Terraforming Mars Will Work NASA has been launching Mars probes every two years in an attempt to determine if the planet ever supported, or still supports, life. |
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