Sun, Nov 23, 2008

Down to earth: Mars mission's cost is relative

ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.31.2008
Mission leaders refer to the Phoenix Mars Lander as the dollar-a-mile mission. The spacecraft left Earth on Aug. 4, 2007, and touched down last Sunday after traveling 422 million miles.
NASA invested $420 million into the 90-day mission — $50 million to $60 million of which was spent in Tucson, where the University of Arizona is leading the mission's science.