"As of December 2016, the project was tracking the risk that the sampling system may not be ready for integration and testing-the period when a spacecraft is built, undergoes final testing and is prepared for launch-in May 2019, as planned." "The immaturity of the critical technologies related to the sampling system is concerning, because, according to Mars 2020 project managers, the sampling system is the rover's most complex new development component, with delays likely to eat into the project's schedule reserve, and in the worst-case scenario, could delay launch," the report added. Three of the sampling system's critical technologies were below technology-readiness level (TRL) 6 at the mission's preliminary design review (PDR) in February 2016-meaning their prototypes "had not yet demonstrated the capability to perform all the functions required," the report's authors wrote. The largest risk is the rover's sample and caching subsystem, according to the document. Mars 2020 has several schedule-related issues that could indicate the project is "overly optimistic," the new report said. The new mission aims to hunt for signs of past Red Planet life and collect and store samples that will be retrieved by a future mission, among other goals. The $2.4 billion robot's body is heavily based on the Curiosity rover, which has been exploring Mars since August 2012.
Mars 2020 is NASA's next big Red Planet surface mission. "Overly optimistic" project?Īs noted in the OIG document, since 1964, NASA has spent more than $21 billion on missions exploring Mars, including four robotic rovers on the Martian surface, five static landers and numerous orbiters. The OIG conducts objective oversight of NASA programs and operations and independently reports its findings to the space agency's administrator, Congress and the public. These and several other issues may affect Mars 2020 project managers' ability to achieve the mission's technical objectives, meet project milestones (such as the intended launch date) and control costs, said the OIG report, which was published Monday (Jan.
The technologies required for the 2020 Mars rover mission's sample-collecting system appear to be relatively immature, for example, and five of the robot's seven science instruments feature a "condensed development schedule," said a new report by NASA's Office of Inspector General (OIG). An independent review has identified several areas of concern in the development of NASA's next Mars rover, which the space agency aims to launch in July 2020.
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