NASA Considers Killing Missions

Proposed budgets for new NASA space exploration missions are rising as much as 40% in the aftermath of back-to-back Mars failures and the agency is considering canceling some projects, a key administrator said Thursday.

Nothing has been canceled yet, but a review is looking at 10 to 15 big missions in development, said Ed Weiler, a NASA administrator.

He flatly denied rumors that he had already cut a mission to Pluto, the only planet not yet visited by a spacecraft. That mission is being planned at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

The rising budget numbers show “a little more realism . . . not necessarily a bad thing,” said Weiler.

The rising costs reflect a new outlook by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration after the failures of the $165-million Mars Polar Lander and $125-million Mars Climate Orbiter. A tough review blamed underfunding that led to cutting of corners on testing and other safeguards.