Lockheed Gets $485M From NASA To Create MAVEN Craft

coondoggie writes to tell us that Lockheed Martin has landed a $485 million contract to create the spacecraft for NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) project. "MAVEN is the second mission in NASA's Mars Scout Program — a series of small, low-cost, principal investigator-led missions to the Red Planet, NASA said. The Phoenix Mars Lander was the first mission under the program. Lockheed Martin is the industry partner on the Phoenix mission. It designed and built the spacecraft, and also provided flight operations and currently surface operations for the lander. The mission has been extended through Sept. 30, 2008."

Comments

half a billion dollars for what exactly?

[kzdfbhikndzvfkjndff]

I'd like to know exactly who decides that we should spend half a billion dollars on a freaking mars satellite when we have very real and serious problems here on earth such as global warming, pollution and even our economy! When are we going to stand up and stop letting our government pretend that theres nothing wrong here at home and make them spend our money a lot more wisely!

Uh, what?

[jd]

Small, low-cost investigator-led missions in an atmosphere. In other words, robotic hang-gliders, gliders and microlights. And this is going to cost $485 million? How many does NASA expect to get for that? The Germans had mastered the basic technology in the 40s, with rocket-launched glider bombs, radiation-proofing by better shielding rather than expensive layouts has been used in space vehicles for ages now, and UAVs have become practically commonplace. Yes, you need more reliable unfurling systems, as you can't rely on astronauts to make repairs on Mars missions just yet, and the Martian atmosphere is sufficiently thin that you really do need excellent lift to maintain flight, but I see nothing here that is technologically revolutionary. It looks like a basic evolution from existing hardware, along with a little repackaging. So long as you've a good supply of ultra-light materials, access to an aircraft hanger you can seal up and reduce air pressure to Martian levels, and some serious aviation geeks, you should be able to design, develop and mass-produce such systems at a fraction of the cost.

I've no objection to NASA paying serious money for serious work, or paying Really Big Money for Really New Inventions, but when you're talking something that is almost at the point where anyone with encyclopedic knowledge of the 1,500+ public domain airfoils, the experience gathered by biplane and triplane designers, an Open Source CFD package and say a couple of the really freakish designs (I'd go with the DH98 Mosquito, Barnes Wallice's aircraft, and/or one of the round-the-world aircraft) could be expected to be able to come up with something workable... Someone outside of the top research groups probably won't come up with the best design, but if the margin between "it works" and "it's perfect" is sufficiently small, you don't NEED the "best" design. I don't see any proofs here that Lockheed can do better than a bunch of MIT engineers or even a sufficiently geeky high-schooler. I certainly don't see any proofs here that Lockheed'll do anything other than pull up a pre-existing design for exactly this kind of work (they've plenty to draw from - including a prior proposed shuttle replacement), re-badge it so they can pass it off as new, and spend the remaining $484M on drinks.

Hell, in the Martian atmosphere, all you really need for this kind of stuff is a collapsible, inflatable R100, the 3D solar panels that high-schooler DID design, and some ultra-light electric motors. (Definitely the R100, not the R101. You do NOT want the R101. I know this is Mars and there are traditions to uphold, but think of the Martian children.) Definitely a Zepplin derivative, not a modern blimp. There's a big difference. The R100 is probably still one of the best airship designs ever. So long as you can reassemble and inflate at destination, such a design could hop from point to point on the planet with the greatest of ease, be far less prone to mechanical fatigue than even the spectacular rovers out there at present, and potentially be scooped back up for a trip to another planet or a return to Earth.

And NASA will pay Lockheed HOW MUCH to build something almost any Slashdotter could assemble out of Japanese craft paper, the carbon fibre rods used in high-end LARP swords, and some Blue Peter sticky-back plastic? John Noakes probably has a dozen he made earlier.