How much did it cost to land a rover on Mars?
Huge congratulations are due to NASA, who just shot a flying crane across the Solar System to lower a six-wheeled nuclear-powered robot onto the surface of another planet. The Perseverance rover will collect rock samples to send back to Earth and look for signs of life.
It’s an utterly incredible feat of engineering, a huge coup for science and an awe-inspiring marvel of human achievement…but how much did it cost?
We have you covered, with a graphic to put the programme into context. Click to enlarge:
You can check out the data and calculations behind the numbers if you’re interested, and many of them are owed to The Planetary Society, whose detailed spreadsheet of investments in planetary exploration is an incredible resource!
Categories: Scienceogram
2 Comments
Ray
Impressive, however people in other countries think that the american people are so rich that they can afford to spend to spend billions on space adventures.
Christopher Smart
Very enlightening. I firmly believe that all monies spent on space exploration is well spent It is our duty to ensure that our future is preserved and this can only be done by understanding our environment, whatever the distance!