/sci/ - Science & Math

>>15888353
>The brief summary is that MSR’s architecture, pictured below, is incredibly complicated, slow, and expensive. In addition to that, it specifically avoids solving key problems, such as Mars downmass capacity, that would both greatly simplify the mission (albeit at some cost) and also feed forward into future human exploration. The result is a series of compromises that require Rube Goldberg sequencing, no central authority or responsibility that can fight for mission success, and billions of dollars of R&D on technologies that will probably never be used ever again.

Members of Congress seek increase in Mars Sample Return funding
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https://spacenews.com/members-of-congress-seek-increase-in-mars-sample-return-funding/
> WASHINGTON — Members of Congress are asking NASA not to slow down work on the Mars Sample Return (MSR) program now while also lobbying fellow members to provide more money for the effort in 2024.
> In a Nov. 21 letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, six members of California’s congressional delegation expressed their “strongest opposition” to a NASA directive earlier this month to slow down work on MSR because of uncertainty about how much funding will be available to the program in fiscal year 2024.
> The letter was signed by Sens. Alex Padilla (D) and Laphonza Butler (D) and Reps. Adam Schiff (D), Judy Chu (D), Mike Garcia (R) and Young Kim (R). The four House members all represent districts in Southern California, home of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is leading the overall MSR effort.
> At a Nov. 13 advisory committee meeting, agency officials said they had recently instructed the centers working on MSR — Goddard Space Flight Center, JPL and Marshall Space Flight Center — to “start ramping back on activities” related to MSR because of the wide gap in spending between a House spending bill, which would provide the full request of $949.3 million for the program, and a Senate version that offers only $300 million.
> “If forced to operate at the unnecessarily low funding level prematurely directed by NASA,” they wrote, JPL “will not be able to meet the 2030 launch window, billions of dollars in contracts supporting American businesses will be subject to cancellation, and hundreds of highly skilled jobs in California will be lost.” The contents of the letter were first reported by Politico.

House bill would fully fund Mars Sample Return, block cooperation on ExoMars
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https://spacenews.com/house-bill-would-fully-fund-mars-sample-return-block-cooperation-on-exomars/
WASHINGTON — House appropriators would fully fund NASA’s Mars Sample Return program despite its ongoing problems but halt the agency’s plans to cooperate with a European Mars mission.
> The House report, though, would fully fund MSR at $949.3 million, and instructs NASA to request the funding necessary in 2025 to ensure the MSR sample retrieval lander and Earth return orbiter missions launch by 2030.
> The report, though, refers to the “pending Independent Review Board’s results.” That board completed its work in September, concluding there was a “near zero probability” that MSR could stay on cost and schedule. It also concluded that the overall MSR program would cost between $8 billion and $11 billion, well above the $5.3 billion threshold mentioned in the Senate report.
> The funding for MSR in the House bill has ripple effects for other NASA programs. The House bill provides $7.38 billion for NASA science programs, slightly more than the $7.341 billion in the Senate bill. However, the House bill reduces funding for Earth science, astrophysics, heliophysics and biological and physical sciences compared to the Senate bill, which had already been cut in most cases from the agency’s request.

NASA starts reassessment of Mars Sample Return architecture
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https://spacenews.com/nasa-starts-reassessment-of-mars-sample-return-architecture/
> PASADENA, Calif. — NASA has started work to revise its approach to returning samples from Mars after an independent review concluded the current Mars Sample Return (MSR) architecture has an “unrealistic” budget and schedule.
> That independent review found a “near zero” probability that the next major elements of MSR, a sample retrieval lander and Earth return orbiter, would be ready for launch as currently planned in 2027 and 2028. It also estimated MSR costs to be in the range of $8 billion to $11 billion, far higher than previous NASA projections.
> The plan he outlined called for selecting two or three alternative architectures this fall for further study, which may include independent cost estimates. One the agency selects a new architecture, he said the goal is to get through a confirmation review by late 2024 where NASA makes formal cost and schedule commitments for the program. NASA had previously planned to hold a confirmation review for MSR this fall.
> The review of alternative architectures will focus on several figures of merit, including total and per-year costs, technical issues and the science value of the revised mission. One example he gave is looking at reducing the number of samples returned, allowing for a smaller Orbiting Sample (OS), the container that would house them. A smaller OS, he noted, could reduce cost and complexity for the overall architecture.
> “This is something that we should take very seriously,” he said of that recommendation. “It took a year and a half of discussion and debate to come to this recommendation. It was not achieved lightly, and it really does represent the view of the broad planetary science community of the importance of this project.”