NASA planning launch of new Mars rover

by Stevie Smith - Oct 13 2008, 13:00

The global economy may well be teetering on the brink of complete meltdown but renowned U.S. space administration NASA has this week revealed an ambitious plan to launch a new roving surface probe towards Mars in 2009.

Confirmation of a projected Fall launch for yet another Martian vehicle arrives as something of a surprise given the current economic climate and that NASA was recently forced to issue a delay for its Space Shuttle replacement project due to related funding constraints.

The nuclear-powered Mars Science Laboratory vehicle, which has already sucked up some $1.5 billion USD of NASA’s budget, will be considerably larger than the current rovers examining the rocky surface of the Red Planet. And, by the time the rover vehicle is launched into space in the latter part of 2009, cost estimates suggest the project’s total price tag will be closer to $2 billion USD.

Speaking during a conference call for gathered press representatives, Mars Exploration Program director Doug McCuistion outlined that NASA is pressing for a Fall 2009 launch for the Mars Science Laboratory but faces a considerable amount of work in order to meet that scheduling. McCuistion also noted that NASA will once again evaluate the project’s progress in January of 2009.

Set to follow in the success of its rover cousins Spirit and Opportunity, and also the Phoenix lander, the Mars Science Laboratory will set down on the Martian surface before navigating the surrounding terrain to collect and study rock samples with a view to establishing whether the planet could support microbial life.

In terms of its physical sizing and on-board capabilities, the six-wheeled Mars Science Laboratory will be somewhere close to the size of a standard sports utility vehicle (SUV) and will be equipped with a range of advanced tools in order to study rock and soil samples in ever greater detail. AP reports the roving probe vehicle will even be fitted with a laser that will enable the mobile lab to zap distant rocks.

While avoiding being mission-specific, McCuistion revealed that keeping the Mars Science Laboratory project on track will likely lead to “financial collateral damage” being imposed against certain other ongoing NASA projects.

Although unconfirmed by NASA at this point, the administration’s head of Planetary Science, James Green, last week intimated that potential funding bleed-out for the new Mars rover could be taken from the Juno Jupiter project and the lunar Grail and Ladee missions.

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