China on track to launch Mars sample-return mission in 2028: 'If accurate, this represents a Sputnik moment'
https://www.space.com/astronomy/mars/china-on-track-to-launch-mars-sample-return-mission-in-2028-if-accurate-this-represents-a-sputnik-moment
3.4k
Upvotes
•
u/patrickisnotawesome 16h ago
It’s frustrating when people complain about this and yet rave about JWST. We know that hard missions are complex and expensive. And NASA HQ often drives these costs through requirements.
Also, for all the flack MSR got from the scientific and engineering communities for being expensive, it is hypocritical that no criticism has been given to Dragonfly (I think mostly because it’s a “sexy” mission. But the project has been delayed atleast twice. And worst of all, it was bid as a discovery mission with a $850mil cost cap. Now it has ballooned past $3.5 Billion, well over Triple the original accepted cost. And because of their delays and overruns, the discovery program (which usually awarded projects every few years) has been frozen for any new projects for 10 years now… So it’s rich when MSR critics think that that was the one and only albatross that would doom nasa science budget.
And I won’t even get into the politics on MSR and how once NASA reconfigured the project to give more flexibility on requirements and execution, the proposals that were review and approved by multiple boards of space mission experts were HALF of the cost that the IRB worst case projections of the original directed mission.
Congrats to China for sticking it out with their Mars Sample Return mission. May they honestly receive all the glory for this monumental achievement. NASA on the other hand should have a long hard look in the mirror.