Mars missions face cost crunch

摘要

Europe's next Mars mission launch looks likely to slip from 2013 to 2016. And budget overruns on NASAs next Mars rover threaten future missions there and elsewhere. The European Space Agency (ESA) is having problems paying for an ambitious redesign of the science suite of its planned ExoMars lander, which consists of a rover with a drill and a stationary observational platform. The changes were decided in spring 2007 by ESA's programme board for human space flight, microgravity and exploration, raising the mission's estimated cost from E∪D650 million (US$890 million) to between E∪D 1 billion and E∪D1.2 billion.