[meteorite-list] Ideas Wanted for NASA's 2020 Mars Rover, But Government Shutdown Adds Challenge

From: hall at meteorhall.com <hall_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Oct 2013 18:36:43 -0400
Message-ID: <f9c2f08b5044d3b13228badd41d504ed.squirrel_at_emailmg.ipage.com>

This will quite simply end the science haters, give the Tea Party Members
a free ride to Mars on the 2020 Rover!
>
> http://www.space.com/23037-nasa-mars-rover-2020-government-shutdown.html
>
> Ideas Wanted for NASA's 2020 Mars Rover, But Government Shutdown Adds
> Challenge
> by Miriam Kramer
> space.com
> October 2, 2013
>
> NASA needs ideas for its next Mars rover, but the government shutdown
> might delay their arrival.
>
> The space agency has put out an open call, asking scientists to submit
> proposals for the science and technology instruments that will fly aboard
> NASA's next Mars rover expected to launch in 2020. If the government
> shutdown
> continues, however, the competition - called the Mars 2020 Mission
> Investigations Announcement of Opportunity (AO) - might not go forward
> as planned.
>
> "The Mars 2020 AO may be affected in a number of ways, if the Government
> is shut down for some duration," NASA officials wrote. "The preproposal
> conference, scheduled for 10/8, may be rescheduled and the due date for
> NOIs [Notices of Intent] (currently 10/15) could be delayed, if the
> government is still shut down closer to those dates."
>
> The newly announced proposal competition asks researchers to submit a
> mission plan detailing the hardware, mission operations, data analysis
> and other information about what they would use a rover to investigate
> on Mars. The total cost available for the investigations is about $130
> million.
>
> NASA's Mars 2020 rover is expected to look somewhat like the space
> agency's
> Curiosity rover currently roaming the surface of the Red Planet, but its
> job will be different. The 2020 rover is slated to search for signs of
> past life on Mars and collect samples for an eventual return to Earth,
> NASA officials have said.
>
> Curiosity's initial mission was focused on determining if life on Mars
> was ever possible. The rover settled that question in March when NASA
> announced that Curiosity's data shows that Mars could have supported
> primitive life in the past.
>
> "The Mars 2020 mission will provide a unique capability to address the
> major questions of habitability and life in the solar system," Jim Green,
> director of NASA's Planetary Science Division in Washington D.C. said
> in statement. "The science conducted by the rover's instruments also
> would expand our knowledge of Mars and provide the context needed to make
> wise decisions about whether to return any collected samples to Earth."
>
> The 2020 rover might also help scientists pave the way for a possible
> manned mission to the Red Planet sometime in the future.
>
> "The Mars 2020 rover will test technologies that are key to one-day
> landing human explorers on the Red Planet," Jason Crusan, director of
> NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Division, said in a statement. "New
> technologies could allow astronauts to live off the land as they explore
> the ancient valleys of Mars. The capability to manufacture breathable
> air, rocket fuel, water and more may forever change how we explore
> space."
>
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Received on Wed 02 Oct 2013 06:36:43 PM PDT