NASA Plans to Send Nuclear Powered Rover to Mars Next Year

NASA moves forward on plans to send a super-sized rover to Mars. The new six-wheel rover is the size of an SUV. It is powered by nuclear energy. However, the space agency needs more funding to complete the $2 billion project. Mission specialists hope to begin the first mission for the new rover to Mars next fall.

NASA announced that it still needs more funding to resolve problems with its next Mars mission. The planned mission will launch next year. The space agency hopes that the U.S. Congress will find the extra funds needed.

"If we're going to launch in 2009 or 2011, additional budget resources are going to be necessary," Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA headquarters, said in a statement.

The mission will launch a Mars Science Laboratory to Mars. The new super-sized rover is nuclear-powered. NASA managers are already meeting to go over the progress of the mission.

There are budget concerns over the new mission as the project's costs continue to escalate. NASA has poured $1.5 billion into the project so far. The space agency says the final price tag is expected to be $2 billion.

NASA's Mars Science Lab will roam the Martian planet and study rocks. The study will determine if the Red Planet could support microbial life. The new rover will have a cargo of instruments that can probe rocks and soil. It has the technology to study rocks in finer detail than previous missions including a laser that can zap boulders from a distance.

The new rover has six wheels and is the size of an average SUV.