The space agency NASA has been preparing for years for bringing samples from the surface of Mars to Earth for research. The planetary rover Perseverance is even collecting material in preparation for a future shipment. However, there are still no concrete plans on how to organize such a shipment. According to the latest calculations, the cost of implementing this plan is much higher than previously assumed.
NASA is facing a really difficult task. It is necessary not only to build the next mission-ready spaceship to reach the planet, but also loading the collected samples onto it and bringing them back to Earth.
Thomas Zurbuchen, a former NASA deputy administrator, said he had been thinking about the project all the time during his last few months at the agency, and even after he left office. During his tenure, he was one of the people who supported the idea and helped get it approved by management. However, the problem that has not been resolved since then is the budget.
It was previously thought that the mission to bring back samples from Mars would cost about $4.4 billion. Now, Jet Propulsion Laboratory mission program manager Richard Cook and NASA Headquarters mission director Jeff Gramling have unveiled a new cost estimate. Supposedly much more realistic, unfortunately also proportionally taller.
The latest calculations show that the budget should be increased to at least USD 8-9 billion. In addition, this time it is only about creating and testing individual components of the mission. The amount does not include launch costs, operating expenses over a five-year period, and the cost of building a new facility to sample, process rocks and soil from Mars.
Ultimately, the entire operation was estimated at $ 10 billion, which also puts it in question. It is not known whether NASA will undertake such an expensive expedition. Especially in light of the huge budgets consumed by another key project – Artemis.
2023-07-02 20:36:00
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