Although the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) made it clear that NASA did not possess sufficient funds to remain on schedule to conduct a test for the Space Launch System (SLS) in 2017, the space agency is not hesitating to seek funding for other projects, including a satellite network on Mars.
Each year, NASA's budget is allocated by the federal government. They were given $16.6 billion for 2014 and apparently that wasn't enough to fulfill all of their desired projects and goals. On Wednesday NASA requested commercial help so they can establish a telecommunications relay service on Mars. Scientists want to retrieve all the data they can and as fast as they can from the existing satellites, rovers, and other spacecraft exploring the Red Planet.
The agency is hopeful that they can send out a commercially owned and operated satellite network to Mars so they can expedite the data retrieval process to better prepare for the future MARS One missions. Some of the robotic probes exploring the planet are getting old and their ability to relay their findings back to NASA are beginning to deteriorate. The notable Mars explorers include the Mars Odyssey spacecraft (2001), Mars Express (2003), Opportunity Rover (2004), Spirit Rover (2004), Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2006), Curiosity Rover (2012), and two others - Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) (Sept. 2014) and MAVEN (Sept. 2014) - that will arrive in the next couple of months.
"Mars landers and rovers are highly constrained in mass, volume, and power. One consequence of these constraints is a significant limitation in the data rates and data volumes that can be communicated on the direct link between the Mars surface spacecraft and Earth," NASA wrote in its request.
"We are looking to broaden participation in the exploration of Mars to include new models for government and commercial partnerships," added John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, in this BBC News article.
Following the arrivals of the Mars Orbiter Mission and MAVEN, NASA has no other scheduled Mars orbiters because it will cost too much money to send more while working to ensure reliable, high-performance telecommunications relay services. NASA is hopeful that commercial companies are willing to participate in such an endeavor and have asked that proposals be submitted by August 25.
You can read more about NASA's request for a commercially owned and operated satellite network on Mars in this Reuters news article.
