Mars Sample Return cost growth threatens other science missions

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Mars Sample Return cost growth threatens other science missions

Quote

WASHINGTON — NASA’s effort to return samples from Mars is facing increasing costs that is putting pressure not just on other planetary science missions but also a major heliophysics mission.

NASA, in its fiscal year 2024 budget proposal, requested $949.3 million for Mars Sample Return (MSR), the program that will send missions to Mars to take samples collected by the Perseverance rover and return them to Earth. MSR is a joint effort with the European Space Agency, with NASA leading work on a lander and ESA an orbiter.

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[pellinore]

There were concerns about the cost of the Apollo project to put a man on the moon, half a century ago. Some saw it as having a racist element. Was it worth it? How many people walked on the moon- 12, 20? And how many of their names do we remember? Only the first three, and the crew of Apollo 13. What did we gain?

[khol]

2 hours ago, pellinore said:

What did we gain?

Seriously?..https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/feature/Going_to_the_Moon_Was_Hard_But_the_Benefits_Were_Huge

..and we live in a misguided society when fiscal concerns out wiegh our natural advancement in science..period

Edited March 19 by khol

[pellinore]

6 hours ago, khol said:

Seriously?..https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/feature/Going_to_the_Moon_Was_Hard_But_the_Benefits_Were_Huge

..and we live in a misguided society when fiscal concerns out wiegh our natural advancement in science..period

I like the idea of space exploration, but cost effectiveness is not a viable argument. Yes, there were technological developments, but who is to say they would not have come about anyway? Fly-by-wire would have been a natural development as technology advanced- bear in mind, this was decades before computers and digital technology was widely available. Now we all have more computing power in our pockets than a NASA spacecraft had then- I we didn't get there because we wanted to go to the moon we got there because corporations had money to invest in the technology.

Space blankets- you think they would not have been developed in the last 50 years? Graphene was discovered a few years ago- nothing to do with NASA.

I've heard the same argument advanced that wars stimulate R&D- no it doesn't, all the available money is spent on developing existing technology to the limit.