MSL Delays?

NASA To Provide Mars Science Laboratory Update

“NASA will hold a briefing at noon EST, Thursday, Dec. 4, about the agency’s Mars Science Laboratory, or MSL. The briefing will take place in the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street, S.W., Washington. The briefing participants are:

– Michael Griffin, NASA administrator
– Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington
– Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters
– Charles Elachi, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.”

Editor’s note: Word has it that there will be a telecon or briefing for affected NASA employees before the press conference.

Editor’s update: Informed speculation is that NASA is going to announce that the launch date for MSL is going to be slipped. One option that has been under consideration would be to launch MSL in 2010, park the spacecraft in a solar orbit (1 AU), do an Earth flyby in 2011, and then send it on to Mars. The additional cost for this option was estimated by NASA to be around $300 million. Another option would be to wait to launch until 2011 (directly to Mars) at a cost a few tens of millions above the cost of launching in 2010.

Stay tuned.

MSL Cost Overruns: More Smoke and Mirrors from NASA, earlier post
Lack of Discipline = Slaughter of the Innocents, earlier post
Shooting The Messenger at NASA, earlier post
MSL Commentary in Science Magazine, earlier post
What the MSL Bailout Looks Like, earlier post
NASA SMD’s Cost Overrun Coverup (updated with Telecon notes), earlier post