• CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    1 year ago

    Their space program is generally regarded as fairly good to my understanding, they just operate on lower budgets.

    In any case, wasn’t this mission only designed to last a couple weeks on the surface anyway? I could’ve sworn I remember reading that the probe wasn’t designed to survive the temperatures the moon reaches at night, and their attempts to recontact it were more or less a “it’s done it’s mission already, but if it happens to survive anyway, it’s an added bonus, so might as well check” sorta deal.

    • jscummy
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      “Operating on lower budgets” is putting it lightly, this mission cost $74M. NASA’s next rover is projected at $433M