Next-Gen Mars Rover Mission Delayed 2 Years, To 2011

Riding with Robots writes "NASA announced today that the Mars Science Laboratory, the agency's next Mars rover mission, is now slated to launch in 2011 instead of next year. 'We've reached the point where we can not condense the schedule further without compromising vital testing,' said NASA's director for Mars exploration. The length of the delay is driven by the fact that the orbits of Earth and Mars only provide a favorable flight window every two years."

Other missions in the works, too

[sighted]

I meant to mention that NASA is not the only agency planning future Mars rovers. The European Space Agency is planning the ExoMars mission [esa.int]. (It's facing its own delays, until 2016 in this case.)

Re:

[LingNoi]

More like irrelevant broken link..

Again...

[wdconinc]

Delays and ballooning expenses [nytimes.com]: some reform at NASA is in order...

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[cupofjoe]

Delays and ballooning expenses [nytimes.com]: some reform at NASA is in order...

Well, your comment is undoubtedly going to be a common one.

I was almost inspired to begin "Oh, please...", but I have to admit: I'm a technocrat at heart, and it's just a knee-jerk reaction.

Regarding Stern's Op-Ed, note that he was in SMD (Science Mission Directorate), a portion of NASA that routinely suffers cutbacks that reward "...the guilty" and punish "...the innocent," to borrow his phraseology, mostly in favor of the Manned Space Program.

The issue facing MSL is, indeed, endemic within the r

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[amliebsch]

Balooning expenses? What, are they using laboratory-grade helium or something?

Clarification on the problem

[iamlucky13]

I was a little worried when I noted in the article that the author was a disguntled ex-NASA employee. Then I realized who the author was: former Science Mission Director administrator Alan Stern. He's the guy who earlier this year was lambasted by NASA higher-ups and Slashdotter's alike for pulling the plug on the ailing Spirit Mars Exploration Rover to save a few million dollars. His decision was forcibly reversed, and being out of favor he resigned. Given my enthusiasm for the rover program, I find my mil

Re:

[FTWinston]

Au contraire, when Griffin came on board, for a while it looked like MSL was going to launch reasonably on-time, despite Ares/Orion ... so they needed to reform to get back to the tried & tested method of delays & ballooning expenses!

Silver Lining

[Prysorra]

Looking back, one thing that scientists wish they had is the imaging technology of the 90's...or even now.....back when they first launched Voyager in the 70's. Heck, computers too.

Now I'm NOT playing the "what if" game, but it helps keep our chins up when things look down.

They now have 2 years to make it better, faster, more efficient, etc.

Except cheaper. Too late lol.

Re:Silver Lining

[RabidMoose]

Good, fast, cheap. Pick two.

Re:

[Idiomatick]

We didn't with computers

Re:Silver Lining

[clone53421]

You're mistaking "fast" meaning performance (i.e. this falls under "good") with "fast" meaning development (and it's taken decades to develop computers as good as the ones we have today).

Re:

[jemtallon]

That's true - we didn't seem to pick any of those, did we

Re:Silver Lining

[DerekLyons]

They now have 2 years to make it better, faster, more efficient, etc.

Nope. This late in the game (even with a two year delay) all the hardware is either already built or nearing completion. Redoing major hardware for minor improvements just isn't in the cards. (Most of the hardware is already at 90's standards - where it isn't at 21st century standards.)

Late-Breaking News: Infiltrator Squads Revealed!

[Tackhead]

The most Illustrious Council of Elders has issued an update concerning the recent lack of activity from the Blue World. K'Breel, Speaker for the Council, spake thus:

It can now be revealed that our highly-classified programmes in genetic engineering have borne fruit. The thick miasma of nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor that enrobes the Blue World is no longer an obstacle to us!

Years ago, dozens of volunteers committed to making the supreme sacrifice, agreeing to genetic modifications that would turn their gelsacs inside-out, that they might be able to breathe the Blue Worlders' toxic soup. Highly-trained, and knowing that theirs was a one-way trip, our infiltrator squads have lived among the Blue Worlders for many years, seeking out employment in the very hearts of their terror labs, and today it can be revealed that they have struck yet another blow against our foe.

It is no longer necessary for our infiltrators to covertly fiddle with their units of measurement in order to achieve victory *after* launch; the presence of so many infiltrator squads on their homeworld now enables us to overtly delay their launches by a full year or longer!

Citizens, REJOICE!

When a dissident journalist suggested that recently-deciphered transmissions suggesting that a combination of economic instability and general technological backwardness among the blue worlders might also account for the observed lack of activity from the enemy homeworld, K'Breel thanked the journalist for his great courage in volunteering for the next infiltrator mission, and had him sent to the nearest genetic re-engineering facility, where the process of gelsac inversion would begin.

Re:

[Amazing Quantum Man]

How could this possibly be off-topic?

Why Mars again?

[B5_geek]

In recent months NASA has proven that there are glaciers of water-ice just sitting under a thin layer of soil. Water-Ice is/was the #1 reason to go looking there. (Yes looking for signs of past life is a big % too, but bear with me.)

Why continue to send probes there (unless they are the terraforming type) when we could/should be sending probes to Europa or Titan to look for living life in the water under the ice.

Re:

[amliebsch]

Why continue to send probes there (unless they are the terraforming type)

Agreed, send men instead.
Why I hope there's no life on Mars [popularmechanics.com]

Re:

[Gavagai80]

Because you can't just cut through miles of ice to get to the oceans of Europa.

Re:

[Muad'Dave]

Because you can't just cut through miles of ice to get to the oceans of Europa.

Sure you can. Deploy a lander with Earth comms equipment connected to a small RTG [wikipedia.org]-powered probe with a metric buttload of fiber optic cable. Let it melt its way down, unreeling fiber as it goes. No need to worry about the ice refreezing above it; in fact, it's a benefit.

Damn those Detroit assholes

[gplus]

A two year delay of a car delivery? What will the Martians think? Those Detroit assholes are an embarrassment to Earth.