Technology news and Jobs 
Science Two-year delay for NASA's Mars mission
Science Two-year delay for NASA's Mars mission | Two-year delay for NASA's Mars mission |
|
| by Stephen Withers | |
| Friday, 05 December 2008 | |
  
Featured Whitepaper
5 Best Practices for Smartphone Support
Science DiscussionsNot only will the MSL be able to travel further than Spirit and Opportunity, it will also be capable of negotiating rougher terrain. The problem is that NASA has determined that it won't be possible to launch the mission by late October 2009. "Despite exhaustive work in multiple shifts by a dedicated team, the progress in recent weeks has not come fast enough on solving technical challenges and pulling hardware together," said Charles Elachi, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The schedule has slipped because testing show it was necessary to re-engineer key parts of the spacecraft, NASA officials explained. Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program, said "we've reached the point where we can not condense the schedule further without compromising vital testing." Once the 2009 launch window closes, it will be another two years before the relative positions of Earth and Mars favour a flight between the two planets. |
Tags
| < Next story in category | Previous story in the category > |
|---|
