NASA Panel Finds Fault WIth Curiosity Rover Project's Focus

The Curiosity Rover that's been exploring the surface of Mars for more than two years now has a lot of fans (and quite a few headlines here on Slashdot), but not everyone feels positively toward the project. Tech Times reports that NASA revealed on Wednesday that it has renewed the funding of seven ongoing planetary exploration missions but of these, the space agency's Planetary Mission Senior Review panel, which reviewed and rated these planetary missions, was particularly critical of the Curiosity, which also happens to be the newest and the second costliest of the seven missions. The panel is disappointed that given the capabilities of the Curiosity rover, the team behind it only intends to take and analyze eight samples in two years, which translates to two samples from each of the four units it will visit during its extended mission. The Curiosity is the only NASA tool with the capabilities to detect carbon, do in situ age analysis, and measure ionizing particle flux.

Comments

Focus

[Dan East]

NASA Panel Finds Fault WIth Curiosity Rover Project's Focus

This happened with Hubble too.

To Dwell or Not To Dwell

[Tablizer]

I thought they haven't arrived at the primary target yet. Sampling secondary targets slows down progress toward the primary target.

I can see rationale for "not dwelling" at secondary targets. If these secondary targets are somehow deemed primary or prime targets (not stated), that's a different matter, but doing so detracts from the original primary target.

It seems somebody is using "bean counter" logic whereby you judge quantity instead of quality.

Re:NASA Wasting Time and Money

[ColdWetDog]

Let's face facts that NASA is wasting a lot of earth's resources for little in exchange, considering that the earth is quickly using up valuable energy that is in the non-renewable form. With all of NASA's s scientific and technical savvy, they could be working on much more effective projects that would benefit Planet Earth's burdoned and disappearing resources.

Right you are. A governmental department that spends three quarters of one percent of the US Federal budget is 'wasting a lot of earth's resources". Sorry guy, go whine at the Department of Defense, the Homeland Security Department or the Bureau of Land Mismanagement if you want to chip away at wasted resources.

And, in point of fact, NASA does spend a lot of it's money on earth observation. Of all of those nifty satellites that catalog said resources, most of them come from NASA.

Go tilt at some other windmill.