Born slippy: NASA Mars rover Perseverance to persevere on Earth a little longer as launch date pushed back again

It is squeaky bum time at NASA after the launch date for the agency's Perseverance Mars rover was pushed back yet again, raising the spectre of a multi-year delay. Due to launch on an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex-41, lift-off had been scheduled for 13:15 UTC on 20 July. It then slipped …

[Chris G]

F*ck-up fairy

I think she had a few sisters, a couple of them are neighbous of mine.

I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for the mission teams when they get delays like this.

Particularly when the problems are with the taxi service.

[renke]

TITSUP

Total Inability To Secure Uplift Propulsion

(doing el regs work here. who is this f*ck-up fairy gal anyway?)

[Mark 85]

Re: TITSUP

(who is this f*ck-up fairy gal anyway?)

Murphy's sister.

[eldel]

But the "they're just amateurs" mob just lofted a new GPS sat into orbit yesterday - apparently the 88th Falcon9 flight. Looks like Boeing have the same engineering crew on the Atlas as the 737MAX.

[Anonymous Coward]

Like it or not

At this point, regardless of Elon's dreams. SpaceX doesn't have any proven launch vehicle to fly Perseverance to Mars.

Of course this could change if they miss the launch window and delay until 2022.

Note that the launch window is a date with very little wiggle room. As Mars moves away from Earth the Atlas will no longer be able to get Perseverance there.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Like it or not

"As Mars moves away from Earth the Atlas will no longer be able to get Perseverance there."

We could always add leftover skate wheels to make the probe go faster, or find a flightpath to Mars that is downhill all the way!

[Richard 12]

Re: Like it or not

Good news!

It's downhill most of the way.

The first hill is a big one, mind you.

[phuzz]

Re: Like it or not

The Falcon Heavy can get enough mass on a Mars trajectory*, but back when they were planning the Mars 2020 mission the FH hadn't flown. Swapping launch vehicles halfway through the planning phase isn't something NASA do very often.

Also, I suspect they were always going to stick with the same rocket they used for Curiosity. That said, I'd be pretty sure that any Mars missions in planning right now, will be looking at the FH as an option.

* SpaceX claim about 16,800kg for a full expendable launch, and the rover+landing system+cruise stage is less than 4,000kg

[John Smith 19]

It's called a "Launch Window" for a reason.

But note they still have till Aug 15th to get everything sorted. NASA and ULA could still make it happen. Telatively tight. Not impossible.

Aug 15th is also when SX would have to send something to Mars. They are unlikely to make it happen.

But 2022 should be a different story.

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It's even slippier launching into Uranus