Your Tax Dollars Lost in Space

[Hum]

NASA is shuttering the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explore (GEMS) project, which was going to use X-rays to study black holes and space-time theory, the space agency announced Thursday -- but not before costing taxpayers at least $43.5 million.

GEMS was supposed to cost no more than $119 million, not counting the rocket that would launch it into orbit. But NASA has already spent tens of millions, according to June 5 briefing charts obtained by SpaceNews.com, and an independent evaluation pegged the project at 20 to 30 percent overbudget.

NASA's astrophysics director Paul Hertz said the technology needed for the instrument took longer to develop than expected, which drove up the price.

"We are in the process of formally notifying Congress of this decision," he said.

The Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUCEL) lost funding from the NSF in late 2010.

Fermilab's Tevatron particle accelerator, which cost $120 million to build in 1983, was closed last September.

The James Webb Space Telescope, the planned successor to the Hubble, has suffered major setbacks and funding snafus.

Canceling the X-ray telescope mission will cost NASA millions in fees, bringing the total bill for not deploying a major new science mission to as much as $56 million, according to SpaceNews.com.

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[DocM]

Small potatoes compared to the US Senate mandated (and previously cancelled as Ares V) $38 BILLION boondoggle that is the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket-to-nowhere that will cost about $2 BILLION per launch. Compare that to $85-$128 million for a Falcon Heavy or $350 million for a Delta IV Heavy.

[Hum]

Kiss Mars goodbye :laugh:

[Argote]

Well, I'm sure some findings useful for other missions came out of this investment.

[Growled Member]

Leave it to the government to spend to spend a billion dollars for something that costs a dollar.

[DocM]

The best way to Mars isn't an overpriced Frankenrocket like SLS - it's a more affordable heavy lifter used to assemble an in-space-only vehicle that can be used over and over, thereby amortizing its cost over numerous missions. Once one or more are built all that's needed for repeated trips are consumables, crews, and the occasional repair, upgrades or spare parts. NASA designed such a vehicle in 2 configurations; near-Earth and Exploration - NAUTILUS-X, but Congress etc. turned a blind eye. The rounded containers are Bigelow Aerospace expandable habitats, and the ring is a Discovery-style gravity centrifuge. The hexagons are lander or pod bays.