main page newsspace newsthe new rover nasa has risen in price by $ 80 million

The new rover NASA has risen in price by $ 80 million. / February 7, 2011 /

The cost of a new Mars rover NASA MSL (Mars Science Laboratory — «Mars Science Laboratory), and Curiosity (« Curiosity ") increased by $ 82 million.

Additional funds are needed to refine some of the rover’s systems, particularly systems that are responsible for movement of the rover, on-board electronics, radar, and the drilling device. Along with the new total cost of the unit cost will increase to 2.47 billion dollars.

MSL launch postponed several times due to financial difficulties — since 2008, the estimated cost of the machine is up more than 660 million dollars. About 68 percent of that amount needed to refine the hardware.

Professionals involved in the creation of the rover, hoping that they will be able to find the necessary funds. However, the final assurance that scientists do not, because Congress has not approved a budget funding of federal agencies. Moreover, Republicans in the House of Representatives have proposed not to increase the amount allocated to NASA facilities, but instead return to the level of funding in 2008.

At present, MSL launch date scheduled for late November. If the launch does not take place at this time, it will have to defer to December 2011. In this case, the rover sits in the northern hemisphere of Mars, despite the fact that three out of four possible landing sites for the device are located in the southern hemisphere.

The new rover will be equipped with more advanced devices with which it can accurately determine the chemical composition of soil and atmosphere of the Red Planet, to determine the ratio of different isotopes, as well as carry out mass spectrometric analysis.

Print version