spacetoday.net: NASA delays MSL two years

Posted: Fri, Dec 5, 2008, 7:31 AM ET (1231 GMT)
Mars Science Laboratory illustration (NASA/JPL)

NASA announced Thursday that it will delay the launch of its next Mars mission, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), by two years because of delays in building the spacecraft. MSL was scheduled to launch in October 2009, but will not be ready to launch by that time, forcing NASA to wait until the next launch window to Mars opens in 2011. MSL had suffered from cost increases and schedules delays in its development, and NASA officials cited in particular actuators that drive the rover's wheels and other key components as a key issue that cannot be resolved in time for launch next year. Delaying the launch until 2011 will add $400 million to the cost of the mission, bringing its total cost to over $2.2 billion. Agency officials said they will look to other Mars programs first and then other planetary missions to find that money, although no missions would be cancelled. MSL is the most ambitious robotic Mars mission ever developed, featuring a large rover carrying a sophisticated suited powered by an RTG designed to operate for several years.