NASA's Mars Exploration Program has been working for several years to send a 9-foot-long rover to Mars. Powered by a nuclear reactor, the rover would be able to carry out numerous complicated experiments on Mars's surface, giving us information about Mars's potential for sustaining life. Creating this rover has already been an expensive process with plenty of setbacks (as can be expected when building something so technical). The problem scientists are encountering now is that the heat shield designed to protect the rover from extreme temperatures is not strong enough and needs to be redesigned. This setback will cost about $30 million, on top of the budget that's already been exceeded. Reassuring statements have been made that problems like this happen and sometimes you just have to wait a little longer. So this is a large bummer in progress, but not insurmountable.
http://www.universetoday.com/2008/02/28/development-problems-may-delay-mars-science-laboratory-mission/#more-12998
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