MSL

Now I am sure that the MSL is a complicated and worthy project but at what cost?

The Force Is Strong With This One - NASA Watch 2009

How about: "We need to get over ourselves for a minute and enjoy the idea that MSL is actually headed to Mars, regardless of all of the petty bickering that will eventually get everyone on the planet killed before the first Mars colony is established."

Name That Rover - NASA Watch 2009

MSL is very limited in power (despite the non-solar power source), it can't get to the higher elevations and latitudes that NASA had asked for, some of the instruments have seen needless descopes in their science imposed by NASA, and the trade between landing ellipse size, landing elevation, and the rover's mobility capabilities still doesn't permit a mission to some of the most scientifically interesting sites on Mars.

MSL Problems Revisited - NASA Watch 2009

MSL was conceived as a bridge or stepping stone toward more advanced astrobiological investigations (MSL is not an astrobiology mission) and a stepping stone toward Sample Return.

MSL Problems Revisited - NASA Watch 2009

All this talk about whether there should have been more MERs or smaller incremental steps between MER and MSL is forgetting what really has been going on.

Another Mars Mission Slips To The Right - NASA Watch 2009

Surely the reason other programs are getting cut to pay for MSL is because MSL is a higher priority.

Mission Costs: Moving the Goal Posts at NASA - NASA Watch 2009

| Reply how interesting, at the very least, the numbers are trackable, which cannot be said for ESMD CxP. and to think, MSL is a tangable item that WiLL land on Mars, I hope sample return takes place shortly after

Mission Costs: Moving the Goal Posts at NASA - NASA Watch 2009

The MSL is designed for a more in-depth investigation of Mars's surface conditions, IIRC.

Name That Rover - NASA Watch 2009

Simple, because NASA believes the MSL is more important than the missions that will be delayed because of it.

Mission Costs: Moving the Goal Posts at NASA - NASA Watch 2009

Sure MSL is a huge leap, but a sample return -- which was a dozen years ago thought to be possible as early as 2005 -- is an even bigger leap.

Another Mars Mission Slips To The Right - NASA Watch 2009