Cost overruns are beginning to affect NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission in the same way that they did for other well-known space initiatives like the Space Launch System and the James Webb Space Telescope. Congress is worried about the situation as the budget starts to grow tighter.
According to a June article by Ars Technica, the overall cost of the Mars Sample Return has increased significantly from $4.4 billion to close to $10 billion.
Mars Sample Return Project’s Budget in Jeopardy
Appropriators in the Senate are not amused. Less than a third of the $949 million sought by the Biden administration, or $300 million, was allotted for the Mars Sample Return.
Additionally, the senators vowed to revoke the $300 million, thus canceling the project, unless NASA could guarantee that the final cost wouldn’t be higher than $5.3 billion.
There is still $4 billion to spend after NASA has already invested more than $1 billion in the project. One of the trickiest space missions ever undertaken is the Mars Sample Return mission.
A Sample Retrieval Lander would launch from Earth in 2028, according to the present plan. Two helicopters identical to the Ingenuity, which is already flying above Mars, would be on board, along with a tiny rocket.
The Mars Perseverance rover, which has been gathering samples and storing them for recovery, would be nearby when the Sample Return Lander touched down.
Read more: Biden’s Plan Targeted: Conservative Groups Sue To Block $39 Billion Student Loan Cancellation
Sample Collection to Earth Return
More samples gathered by the two helicopters would be added to the samples and delivered to the rocket that the Sample Return Lander was carrying.
The rocket would take out towards Mars, where it would collide, dock, and transfer the samples with another spacecraft. The spaceship would then return to Earth, where it would land in the early to middle of the 2030s.
It would seem unlikely that NASA would be able to keep the expenses of the Mars Sample Return mission under control.
Read more: Munich’s 900 Km/H Hyperloop: A Glimpse Into The Future Of Transport?