NASA Cuts-off Funds for Mars Rover Sensor

The United States Government and all of its agencies are notorious for running over budget. The remote sensor that is currently being developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory is no different. As an article by the Associated Press reports, the project is subsidized by NASA, but they have recently alerted the laboratory that they need to finish the project with the money that they have. "We didn't stop their work, but they're vastly overpriced and we have not been able to curtail that," said Alan Stern, head of science at NASA. The laser instrument known as ChemCam is 70 percent over the original price proposed, but the sensor is supposedly over 90 percent complete. Stern also commented on the fact that this is not a rare occurrence. "We have missions that get into trouble," he said. "This is the third time this mission has needed more money, and we could not pay all the bills," Stern added. Most of the instruments for the Mars mission are ready to go for the mission in two years, but the ChemCam project and a few others are not, and they must be treated similarly to ensure that everything gets done on time.