Reading The New York Times article “Unexpectedly, the Mars Rovers Are Still Going Strong,” it occurred to me that there might have been quite a bit of gamesmanship going on in the specified, designed lifetime of the Mars rovers as well as the funding of a surface exploration period longer than 90 days. NASA may have been unwillingly to commit to an extended support schedule at the same time that the science and engineering team was cautious of claiming high confidence in a greater longevity. And all along, all parties might have known that, barring unforeseen catastrophe, the rovers’ design made surface operations lasting a couple of years very likely. Now, project “managers have requested that the mission be extended up to another 18 months.”
posted @ 09:33 AM EST