NASA cancels astronomy mission
Posted: Fri, Jun 8, 2012, 7:41 AM ET (1141 GMT)
Citing growing costs, NASA officials announced Thursday they were canceling a small x-ray astronomy mission that was still in the early stages of development. The Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer (GEMS) mission failed to pass a confirmation review by NASA last week, and the decision not to continue development of the mission was formally confirmed by the agency on Thursday. Officials said development of the instruments needed for the spacecraft was proving to be more difficult than originally planned, driving up costs and leading to cost overruns of 20 to 30 percent above its $119-million cost cap, based on independent analyses of the project. NASA will spend about $50 million on GEMS, including termination costs. The mission, part of NASA's Explorer program of small astrophysics mission, had planned to launch in late 2014 to study x-ray emissions from the vicinity of supermassive black holes and neutron stars.
Citing growing costs, NASA officials announced Thursday they were canceling a small x-ray astronomy mission that was still in the early stages of development. The Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer (GEMS) mission failed to pass a confirmation review by NASA last week, and the decision not to continue development of the mission was formally confirmed by the agency on Thursday. Officials said development of the instruments needed for the spacecraft was proving to be more difficult than originally planned, driving up costs and leading to cost overruns of 20 to 30 percent above its $119-million cost cap, based on independent analyses of the project. NASA will spend about $50 million on GEMS, including termination costs. The mission, part of NASA's Explorer program of small astrophysics mission, had planned to launch in late 2014 to study x-ray emissions from the vicinity of supermassive black holes and neutron stars.| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Report outlines cost growth in canceled NASA exploration programs
Posted: Sat, Jun 27 11:14 AM ET (1514 GMT) Perseverance Mars rover finds more potential biosignatures
Posted: Sat, Jun 27 11:12 AM ET (1512 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Monday, June 29
Has Rocket Lab launched us across political threshold?
Radio New Zealand — 5:46 am ET (0946 GMT) SpaceX launches rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base Sunday morning
KSBY-TV San Luis Obispo, CA — 5:42 am ET (0942 GMT) SpaceX Valuation and Defense Demand Could Spark a Space-Tech IPO Wave in Warsaw, Creotech CEO Says
Bloomberg News — 5:42 am ET (0942 GMT) The Exploration Company is Recruiting for Its Nyx Crew Team in Houston
European Spaceflight — 5:36 am ET (0936 GMT) Euclid studies Milky Way center, supports future Roman observations
NasaSpaceFlight.com — 5:34 am ET (0934 GMT) |
