Why Not Send Another Mer Pair? Options

[pioneer]

I realize MSL has more neat features and will last longer, but the design on MER has been proven to work since Spirit has lasted over a year and Opportunity is close behind. MER is cheaper than MSL because it will use solar power and won't take as much testing since it is using proven technologies. What I'm wondering is why not re-use a design that works?

[YesRushGen]

I've brought up this suggestion a couple times here, Pioneer. It would be really great to augment the ongoing Mars Exploration with more MER pairs on each launch opportunity. Like Doug says, the main reason for not doing so is money.

However, my counter to that is that the cost of the MERs would drop with each production run of them. If some company picked up the design, they could probably find ways to reduce the cost.

Just think of the potential of a generalized MER design, where you could literally plug-n-play the instrumentation.

Further, I realize that the science performed by MER will not hold a torch, much less a candle, to the since done by MSL. However, I think MER is sufficient to at least survey many different locales on Mars.

Perhaps they could even "get jiggy with it" and land in some more difficult places. MER's EDL has proven itself. Based on the two landings to date - how the atmosphere behaved, etc, they could pin down the landing ellipse I think.

Too bad there's no way for us to make this idea known. NASA/JPL is probably so focused on MRO, Pheonix and MSL that the thought of future MERs may not have even occured to them.