LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) --
NASA has capped funding for a remote sensor being developed by Los Alamos
National Laboratory for the Mars Science Laboratory rover.
"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 in Washington, D.C.
NASA told the project "you
have to finish with the money you have," Stern said Tuesday.
The remote-sensing laser
instrument known as ChemCam
is 70 percent over the original price proposed, he said.
Roger Wiens, principle
investigator for ChemCam, said last week the sensor is more than 90 percent
complete. A French company has delivered the laser, which has been under
testing for several months, he said.
Stern said that if the
project cannot finish with the money it has, it might be able to find funds
elsewhere. But, he said, "I'm out of resources."
The lab was chosen in 2004
to develop the instrument to accompany
the mobile laboratory, which will look for environments that can support
life on the surface of Mars.
ChemCam is to be delivered
to the spacecraft late next spring, Stern said. The launch is two years away,
said Stern, associate administrator for NASA's science mission directorate.
"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."
One way to cut costs was to
cap ChemCam, he said.
Most of the instruments for
the Mars mission are ready and within budget, "but this one and a couple
of others aren't, and we had to treat them all similarly," Stern said.
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