Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC                  November 3, 2000
(Phone:  202/358-1547)

RELEASE:  00-175

NASA CANCELS MINIATURE ROVER FOR 
JOINT JAPAN-U.S. ASTEROID MISSION

     NASA has canceled development of a miniature rover, which 
would have been part of the U.S. contribution to a Japanese 
mission to an asteroid. The primary reasons for the 
cancellation were rising costs and weight. 
 
NASA's Acting Director of Solar System Exploration, Dr. Jay 
Bergstralh, today ordered the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 
Pasadena, CA, to stop work on the MUSES-CN nano-rover and 
instead transfer the material and resources already developed 
to be available for possible use in other projects. 

"The decision to cancel the MUSES-CN nano-rover was difficult 
and distasteful; it certainly represents lost opportunities," 
added Dr. Bergstralh. "In the end, however, there was no 
viable alternative."

Bergstralh said NASA will hold discussions with the Japanese 
Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) to 
consider alternative cooperation in the Mu Space Engineering 
Spacecraft-C (MUSES-C) mission, the first asteroid sample-
return mission, scheduled for launch in late 2002. The 
designation "MUSES-CN" referred specifically to the NASA nano-
rover.

The MUSES-CN rover was originally expected to cost $21 
million, but had recently experienced significant cost growth, 
resulting in a management and cost review at NASA 
Headquarters. 

The rover was small enough to fit in the palm of a hand and 
weighed a little more than 2 1/2 lbs. The rover would have 
been equipped with visible-light and infrared cameras and 
could be modified for use on other places such as comets, 
moons of other planets and on Mars.

More information on the MUSES-CN rover is at: 

            http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/facts/muses.pdf