Mars Rover to be Turned Off Due to Budget Cuts at Nasa

NASA plans to cut funding for one of the two rovers in Mars planet due to budget considerations. It will cut about $4 million needed for the rover to operate from the Program's budget.

It is sad news for the scientists working on the two rover projects. The original mission was supposed to last just a few months but both the rovers have functioned well for the past four years and have provided valuable data from Mars for the scientists.

NASA originally sent the two rovers Spirit and Opportunity at an estimated cost of $820 million for three months of exploration. It costs NASA more than $20 million to operate them annually.

NASA is budget constrained to fund other projects to study the rest of the solar system so it wants to cut one of the rovers. The rover will still be operational but there won’t be any communication to make them explore other parts of the Mars or relay back data to Earth. So, it will be left to forced hibernation according to the principal investigator Steve Squyres of Cornell University.

Squyres told the Reuters:

"It's very demoralizing for the team,"

Spirit is parked on a sunny slope for the Martian winter and was going to gather atmospheric measurements before the budget cut. Instead, it will now stay in sleep mode for most of the winter and stop all science gathering.

The funding cut was announced in a letter delivered Wednesday to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, which manages the rovers. JPL plans to appeal the cut and are trying to get more funding to keep the project alive.

Deputy Principal Investigator Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis said the Mars rover project is still not done and have plenty of things to explore in Mars.

Besides the Spirit getting rested, NASA will be limited to restrict the duties of the Opportunity as well. Opportunity is currently exploring a large crater near the equator. Because of budget constrains, NASA will be able to send commands to the rover every other day instead of sending it daily according to John Callas, the Mars Exploration Rover project manager at JPL.

Callas told AP:

Any cut at any time when these rovers are healthy would be bad timing…These rovers are still viable capable vehicles in very good health."

NASA did the same earlier when they cut funding for the two Voyagers, both of which have passed the solar system.

I hope the Congress reviews their budget and provide more funding for the rovers. It will be a shame if they stop now in the midst of great discoveries by the rovers. Maybe Google or Virgin can help the Mars Rover project.