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This surprising move comes amid technical and budgetary challenges for JPL’s most ambitious organization. The Mars Sample Return mission, a partnership with the European Space Agency, aims to bring Martian soil back to Earth for laboratory scrutiny. Planetary scientists believe these samples may contain evidence of past life on Mars.
“I am writing this letter today to share some difficult news,” JPL Director Laurie Leshin wrote in a tough memo to employees on Tuesday. “Although there is still no final action from Congress on the FY24 budget or Mars Sample Return (MSR) appropriations, we are now in a position where we must take further significant action to reduce spending. , resulting in reductions in workforce.”Additional release of JPL employee numbers and contractors. ”
Mars sample return missions have already achieved some great results. The Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in February 2021, dug up and stored interesting samples of Martian soil. The dangerous part is the “return” part of the mission. Bringing the samples back to Earth will require a novel feat of aerospace engineering.
And you will also need money. A NASA Independent Review Board report estimated that returning the samples would cost between $8 billion and $11 billion over the mission’s entire lifecycle. In the world of space science, there is a truism that “budgets are mission critical.”
Bringing Mars samples back to Earth for closer examination by scientists will take longer and cost more than NASA expected, a scathing independent review board has announced. A report released last year. Spacenews.com reported in November that NASA officials had directed the three NASA centers working on Mars sample return to “resume activities” related to the mission.
In Tuesday’s memo, Lesin explained that NASA had previously directed JPL to allocate $300 million for Mars sample returns in fiscal year 2024, a 63 percent reduction from 2023. This number is consistent with the lower limit of Congressional increases in NASA’s budget. Due to budget uncertainty, JPL has imposed a hiring freeze and reduced its budget and contractor workforce, she wrote.
“Unfortunately, these activities alone will not be enough to get us through the rest of the fiscal year. Therefore, if there were no appropriations and we did not have to take such measures, we would have to wait now. We need to move forward to prevent even deeper cuts,” she wrote.
JPL has a legendary past in robotic space science. The Pasadena, California, institute managed the Viking and Voyager missions in the 1970s and recently landed multiple probes on Mars. Europa Clipper manufactured by JPL is scheduled to be released in October During a mission to the icy moons of Jupiter, which are known to have oceans underground.
But its most important mission is Mars sample return, officials said. This is a top priority for planetary scientists who suspect that Mars was once habitable. Perseverance, like its predecessor, the still-operational Curiosity rover, has instruments that can examine and test Martian soil, but scientists hope that research will help uncover the entire history of Mars. I believe that the substance is needed in the chamber.
It’s also a complex endeavor. Plans include landing another spacecraft on Mars to collect the samples obtained by Perseverance. The samples will then be launched into Mars’ orbit and rendezvous with another spacecraft that will bring everything back to Earth.
But the independent review committee’s report said the mission was “set from the outset with unrealistic budget and schedule expectations.” “As a result, there is currently no reliable, consistent, or well-merged schedule, cost, and technology baseline that is likely achievable with the available funds.”
NASA is reviewing and revising its mission architecture in response to the report, and new plans will be announced in the coming weeks, officials said.
Meanwhile, JPL’s announcement of layoffs drew sharp criticism from Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), who issued a statement calling the move “premature and misguided.”
“We are extremely disappointed by the impending JPL layoffs announced today. Our thoughts are with the affected workers and their families,” Chu said. “These layoffs will be a huge blow to workers and Southern California in the short term and threaten the long-term viability of not only our Mars exploration program but also scientific discoveries for years to come. It will damage it.”
At NASA’s Science Town Hall on January 31, NASA’s top science official, Nicola Fox, began her remarks by pointing out the difficult nature of budget uncertainty. “We empathize with the stress the community is feeling regarding this,” Fox said.
Wednesday is shaping up to be a particularly stressful day. Most JPL employees have been directed by Lesin to work remotely while employees learn whether they still have jobs.
“To ensure everyone has a safe and comfortable environment during a stressful day, we will be directing most of our employees to work from home tomorrow, Wednesday, February 7th. You will not be able to enter the lab inside,” Lesin wrote.
Lesin wrote that after a virtual meeting with supervisors, employees will be notified via email if they are affected by the layoffs.
“We encourage affected employees to forward this email to their personal email accounts immediately, as NASA requires access to JPL systems to be cut off immediately upon notification.” she writes.
Meanwhile, Perseverance continues its mission on a planet some 213 million miles away.The rover is It is thought to have crawled out of Jezero Crater, where it was excavating samples of sedimentary rock in what was once a delta billions of years ago.
This high-altitude journey will give the rover access to a different type of terrain, and for planetary scientists who know Mars was once warmer and wetter but don’t know if it ever hosted life. is an attractive prospect.
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