- Recycled Mars rover hardware may still cost NASA more than expected
- PROMISE faces mounting questions over unexpectedly high development and integration costs
- Existing rover hardware cannot eliminate costly engineering and certification requirements
NASA’s long-term lunar exploration program includes robotic missions requiring specialized vehicles capable of carrying scientific instruments across the Moon.
One proposed mission involves sending the Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping, and In-Situ Exploration (PROMISE), a robotic Moon rover, to conduct scientific investigations on the lunar surface.
According to NASA, the proposal to build the rover from recycled Mars rover engineering hardware could become too expensive after estimates reached between $723 million and $1.33 billion.
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Reusing existing rover hardware does not eliminate major mission costs
Instead of building the Moon rover from scratch, NASA plans to combine engineering models from the Curiosity and Perseverance rover programs.
Although the concept relies on existing hardware, NASA says the expected costs remain far beyond what the agency considers acceptable for such a mission.
The cost estimates were prepared by Casey Dreier, the Planetary Society’s chief of space policy, after reviewing NASA’s proposal for the planned lunar rover.
According to Dreier, the estimated total includes launch and landing costs ranging from $234 million to $320 million together with engineering expenses.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman did not challenge every figure within the estimate, but argued that launch and landing expenses would exist for any lunar mission.
Isaacman believes that it “would be crazy not to take advantage of hardware taxpayers have already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in.”
But, “If PROMISE costs even 20 percent of your low-end estimate, we simply will not fly it,” he concluded.
The proposal combines MAGGIE and OPTIMISM, engineering models developed to support testing for the Curiosity and Perseverance rover programs before their Mars missions.
Those vehicles were built to help engineers test hardware performance, software functions, and driving activities under controlled conditions before operational spacecraft left Earth.
NASA originally considered the concept because using hardware that already exists appeared capable of reducing development costs.
Recycled rover concept still requires major engineering work
Engineers would still need to certify the hardware for launch because equipment designed for ground testing cannot automatically survive spaceflight and lunar operations.
Additional work would also involve adapting communications equipment and integrating NASA’s available plutonium radioisotope power system into the redesigned lunar vehicle.
The engineering models currently support existing activities, meaning removing them from those roles could affect testing work linked to other programs.
Dreier summarized the financial challenge by saying, “Regardless of whether one agrees with every estimate… one thing is clear: PROMISE is far from a ‘freebie.'”
The engineering models currently support existing activities, meaning removing them from those roles could affect testing work linked to other programs.
NASA has not released its own detailed cost estimate for the proposed rover; therefore, the project’s overall financial viability remains under wraps.
That said, its future will likely depend on whether engineers can reduce costs while overcoming technical challenges involved in converting Earth-based test hardware.
Via The Register
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