NASA Clears New Artificial Satellite Mission That Aims to Study Mars in a Cheaper Way

It is an indisputable reality that space exploration is not inexpensive. Perseverance, NASA's most current Mars rover, cost $2.7 billion to develop and deploy to the red planet. Is there, however, a less expensive way to study Mars? University of California, Berkeley has the answer to this new goal.

Berkeley will create Blue and Gold satellites under NASA's project called Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, or ESCAPADE. They will launch them into orbit above Mars in 2024 to research the planet's climatic history. Its Space Sciences Laboratory hopes to conceive, manufacture, test, and establish both for less than $80 million.

Space News said ESCAPADE passed the space agency's called dubbed Key Decision Point C on Aug. 20, allowing it to move forward with final instrument design and assembly.

A year ago, another Space News report said NASA withdrew EscaPADE from the Psyche launch during a preliminary design review. The space agency discovered that a change in spacecraft for the Psyche mission would modify the direction so that it was no longer viable to incorporate EscaPADE.

Why is it Cheap?

The mission's lower cost is partly because it seeks to fly into orbit rather than land on the planet, a far easier operation. Even for an orbiter, though, the cost is relatively cheap. According to NASA, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft cost $580 million, whereas the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter cost $720 million.

The ESCAPADE project takes a different strategy to explore Mars than NASA presently does. Current NASA missions are designed to be highly dependable, with several backups and redundant systems in case something goes wrong - which is why tasks like the Opportunity rover, which was meant to last for three months but turns out enduring 15 years, are so successful. However, this strategy raises costs.

Mission commander Robert Lillis explained in a statement that the new satellites would be less expensive but riskier. He added that the plan reflects a new commercial, higher risk, high return way of doing things.

Is it Feasible, Though?

Can NASA invest $80 million for an 80% probability of success instead of $800 million for a 95% chance of success? Lillis said in the same statement that this is what the space agency is attempting to discover with these trips.

In the 1990s, NASA tried a similar strategy with the Faster, Better, Cheaper concept, which featured the Mars Polar Lander and Mars Climate Observer missions, but both failed to land successfully on Mars. However, the Berkeley team believes that now is the appropriate moment to attempt again, given recent technological advancements and a greater understanding of the conditions on Mars.

Lillis explained that ESCAPADE and two other NASA missions just authorized are tests to determine if advancements in the space business over the previous five to ten years can translate into a significantly greater bang for the buck in terms of research per dollar. Delivering two spacecraft to Mars for less than $80 million is unheard of, he acknowledged. But he underscored that NASA is willing to take the risk.

Check out more news and information on Space in Science Times.