DENVER – A satellite mission to Mars is back on track despite the federal government shutdown that has idled 97 percent of NASA employees after the space agency determined the satellite is required as a communications backup to ensure ongoing contact with the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers currently on Mars.
Lead mission scientist Bruce Jakosky at the University of Colorado said Friday if the $485 million satellite, with a primary mission to probe the Martian atmosphere, isn’t launched between Nov. 18 and Dec. 7, the launch would have to be delayed for at least 26 months in order to take best advantage of the alignment between Earth and Mars and save fuel.
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN satellite, also known as MAVEN, is already waiting at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to be placed atop an Atlas missile once tests are completed.
The rovers are now supported by Mars Odyssey, launched in 2001, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched in 2005, two aging satellites that have NASA engineers worried about their lifespan. Currently, there is no NASA relay orbiter planned after MAVEN is launched. The failure of one of the aging satellites could have serious consequences, delaying the relay of valuable information.
“We were directed to carry out an orderly shutdown. They determined the government needed MAVEN to save the rovers,” Jakosky said.
Opportunity has been exploring Endeavour Crater since 2011. It’s the largest of five craters examined by the six-wheeled rover so far and contains some of the oldest land deposits dating back to the first billion years of Mars’ history.
The newest rover, Curiosity, recently pointed its wheels south, rolling toward the base of Mount Sharp in a journey that will last many months in a search for life on the red planet.
Private contractors who built the new satellite and shipped it to the Kennedy Space Center already had begun shutting the project down when word came that the launch was back on. Shutting down the satellite would have required sealing and protecting sensitive instruments with inert gas, and installing remote monitoring equipment so scientists could continue to run tests from private facilities, because essential NASA engineers working on the project were being sent home.
