Mars Scout Program Cancelled? Options

[Drkskywxlt]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1007/29scout/

I hadn't heard this elsewhere and a quick google of "mars scout cancellation" pulled up nothing about this. The article quotes an interview with Doug McCuiston, so it sounds legit. Apparently, since Mars is now included in Discovery proposals, they feel that covers the low-priced Mars missions adequately. They also feel that no high-quality science can be garnered from such small missions going forward. As a Mars atmosphere guy, I beg to differ on that...

I doubt Mars missions are going to fare well in Discovery proposal reviews since Mars gets it's own budget and areas like small body, inner solar system, and perhaps even the outer solar system get such infrequent missions by comparison.

[vjkane]

I believe that budgets did in the Scout program. It was initiated when projected budgets for the Mars program were substantially larger than turned out to be the case. The cost overruns for the Mars Science Laboratory also squeezed funding for Mars programs.

Mars missions may fair well in the Discovery program. Many ideas I've seen seem compelling and Mars oribters are probably low risk. Remember that despite many lunar missions, the last Discovery selection went to a pair of lunar orbiters (GRAIL).