"When the Perseverance rover arrived on Mars nearly five years ago, NASA officials thought the next American lander to take aim on the red planet would be taking shape by now. At the time, the leaders of the space agency expected this next lander could be ready for launch as soon as 2026-or more likely in 2028. Its mission would have been to retrieve Martian rock specimens collected by the Perseverance rover,"
""Perseverance is approaching five years of exploration on Mars," Lee said in a press briefing Wednesday at the American Geophysical Union's annual fall meeting. "P erseverance is really in excellent shape. All the systems onboard are operational and performing very, very well. All the redundant systems onboard are available still, and the rover is capable of supporting this mission for many, many years to come.""
"Here we are on the verge of 2026, and there's no sample retrieval mission nearing the launch pad. In fact, no one is building such a lander at all. NASA's strategy for a Mars Sample Return, or MSR, mission remains undecided after the projected cost of the original plan ballooned to $11 billion. If MSR happens at all, it's now unlikely to launch until the 2030s."
Perseverance has remained in excellent health nearly five years after landing, with all primary and redundant systems available and functioning. Engineers at JPL are certifying the rover to drive up to 100 kilometers to extend its science reach. The rover has already traveled about 25 miles (40 kilometers) on the Martian surface and can continue operating for many more years. Plans for a Mars Sample Return lander stalled after projected costs rose to about $11 billion, leaving the retrieval mission undecided and unlikely to launch until the 2030s.
Read at Ars Technica
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]