NASA keeps its PROMISE to raid Mars testbeds for parts

NASA is moving ahead with its plan to repurpose a Mars rover engineering model as a lunar trundlebot for less than $400 million.

The robot, dubbed PROMISE (Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping, and In-Situ Exploration), is a cut-and-shut of engineering test articles used for the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers, currently rolling around the Red Planet.

During a weekend briefing, NASA outlined the plan for PROMISE: to land the robot on the lunar surface by late 2028 for an 18-month mission. PROMISE will be preceded by NASA's VIPER trundlebot, which is expected to survive only 100 days on the Moon's surface. PROMISE will carry copies of VIPER's science instruments, including a drill capable of boring 1 meter into the lunar regolith.

Power will come from a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) left over from the Cassini mission. NASA acknowledged the fuel was processed some time ago - the Cassini mission to Saturn was launched in 1997 - but anticipates there will be plenty of heat and power for PROMISE's components.

Blue Origin is to deposit the rover on the Moon. NASA awarded the company a $94 million base contract, "with an option period worth an additional $140 million based on performance to deliver PROMISE to the lunar South Pole."

The figures make it difficult to ascertain the exact cost of the PROMISE mission. However, during the briefing, NASA said it had "a pretty firm agreement with JPL to basically deliver the rover to the surface under $400 million." The $400 million includes the lander, which will be Blue Origin's Mark 1.

Earlier this year, The Planetary Society's chief of space policy, Casey Drier, estimated that the mission (including repurposing the hardware developed for Mars and landing it on the Moon) would cost at least $723 million. At the time, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said: "if PROMISE costs even 20 percent of your low-end estimate, we simply will not fly it."

Assuming Isaacman was only talking about the rover, Drier's figure drops to $489 million without launch and landing costs. 20 percent of that is... not going to be enough.

That also doesn't account for the impact of taking away the hardware built for the Mars program. During the briefing, NASA said it was "pretty comfortable" with how the Mars rovers were going and so was happy about repurposing the hardware or, as one speaker put it, "can we give it a new paint job?"

A source told The Register that morale at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) was not high at present. Raiding successful programs to fulfill the administration's whims is unlikely to have improved the mood of engineers.

Still. Another trundlebot on the Moon. Far better than using that spare RTG for yet another deep space mission, right? (R)