[X] My Assistant

[vjkane]

The most recent Aviation Week and Space Technology (9/8) has the following tidbit in a piece on NASA schedule delays:

"On the robotoic front, the testing schedule for a critical instrument for the Mars Science Laboratory -- dubbed SAM for Sample Analysis at Mars -- may delay launch of the advanced rover from its 2009 planetary window into 2011."

[PhilHorzempa]

I imagine that someone at NASA has thought of this, but perhaps the best way to handle MSL's "situation" would be to delay its launch until 2010. This extra year would allow the Assembly and Test of MSL to proceed at a safe pace.
You are right if you noticed that there is no Mars launch window in 2010. To get around this, MSL would be launched into a Solar Holding Orbit that would return it to Earth 1 year after launch. This Earth flyby would occur in the 2011 Mars window and the flyby would inject MSL into a trans-Mars trajectory.
This procedure was used by the Rosetta and Messenger spacecraft when they experienced launch delays. To avoid flying too close to the Sun in this holding orbit, the spacecraft's solar orbit incorporates an appropriate inclination to the Ecliptic. When the spacecraft returns to Earth after 1 year, the flyby takes out that inclination and transfers that orbital energy into a change in perihelion or aphelion.
The advantage of launching early and waiting a year in solar orbit comes down to cost. Rosetta's launch delay, of about 1 year, added about $100 million dollars to that project's cost. Another year's delay would have added another $100 million to the cost.
Therefore, let's remove the danger of speeding through Assembly and Test for MSL and target its launch for 2010. It should save a good amount of money over the alternative of waiting until 2011, assuming that MSL is ready to launch in 2010.

Another Phil

[mcaplinger]

I imagine that someone at NASA has thought of this, but perhaps the best way to handle MSL's "situation" would be to delay its launch until 2010.

From the article referenced upthread:

"If the science lander is delayed, it could be launched in 2010 and parked in a solar orbit until 2011, when Mars is again in range of Earth, Green said."