Space mission · United States

What total did NASA/JPL report for Deep Space 2 pre-launch development and data analysis?

Deep Space 2 was NASA's pair of small Mars penetrator probes, carried by Mars Polar Lander in 1999. The contemporary NASA/JPL press kit reports USD 28 million of pre-launch development and USD 1.6 million of data analysis, for a USD 29.6 million total on that basis. A separate JPL factsheet allocates its budget differently, including operations and launch-interface costs; neither source supports treating USD 29.6 million as spacecraft construction alone.

Reported project cost

$29.6 million

Cost basis: 1999

In the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility -2 (SAEF- 2), a JPL worker checks the Mars microprobe. Two microprobes will hitchhike on the Mars Polar Lander, scheduled to be launched Jan. 3, 1999, aboard a Delta II rocket. The solar-powered spacecraft is designed to touch down on the Martian surface near the northern-most boundary of the south pole in order to study the water cycle there. The lander also will help scientists learn more about climate change and current resources on Mars,
NASA, Image ID: KSC-98PC-1643Public domain

Cost evidence

Basis of the published figure

Reported project cost1999
en.wikipedia.org

Project record

3 January 1999

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