LOS ANGELES — NASA’s flagship mission to land a nuclear-powered, next-generation rover on Mars is facing development problems and ballooning costs that could threaten its scheduled launch next year.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told a congressional hearing this month that engineers had to redesign the heat shield on the Mars Science Laboratory after tests showed that the protective layer would not survive entry through Mars’ atmosphere.
The extra work is expected to add $20 million to $30 million to the $1.8 billion price tag, already $165 million over budget.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is still aiming for a 2009 launch, but the agency is also looking at alternative voyages in 2010 and 2011, Griffin told the House Science and Technology Committee on Feb. 13.
“Things have gone along more slowly than we would like,” Griffin said.
Any delay of the Mars Science Lab would deal a major setback to NASA, which already had to push back a mission to send an atmospheric probe to the planet because of an undisclosed conflict of interest in the purchasing process.
The Mars Science Lab will be the most advanced and expensive unmanned probe ever sent to Mars. The 9-foot-long mobile robot is larger and can travel farther than the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which are still alive four years after parachuting to opposite ends of Mars.
The Mars Science Lab will use sophisticated instruments to measure for the presence of life’s chemical building blocks and beam the discoveries back to Earth. Science gleaned by the lab is also expected to help prepare NASA for its long-term plans to fly humans to Mars after a return to the moon.
Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said in a statement that he would not question NASA’s decision to delay the launch if needed. However, Udall, who is on the House committee, added: “I want to be confident that NASA is doing all that it can to carry out the . . . development efficiently and effectively.”
