The Discovery Program

With budget cuts, the US space administration has had to limit the amount of money a planetary mission uses (billions of dollars). They have found the solution in the Discovery Program. The Discovery Program is a plan to develop small, low-cost missions. NASA's chant has become "faster, better, cheaper." The new spacecraft, such as the Mars Pathfinder, are an example of small, cheap spacecraft with few scientific instruments made in a fraction of the time previous missions were. Pathfinder was made at a cost of $265 million US (including operations), similar to the expenses of the movie, "Waterworld." Currently, NASA has planned robotic missions to explore the surface of Mars. These missions, as a set of orbiter and lander each, are spaced 26 months apart when the distance to reach Mars is least (perigee). The Mars Global Surveyor, an orbiter, was the first to launch. Pathfinder followed a month later. After this, three more sets are planned to launch leading up to the 2005 Mars Sample Return Mission, where rock and soil samples will be returned to Earth for observation. The ultimate goal is a human mission to Mars, which might be achieved as early as 2015.