  icon_faq_mplan3.gif icon_faq_sci3.gif icon_faq_sc3.gif    How
much does the mission cost? The Surveyor mission cost $154
million to develop. This development cost includes the price of
the spacecraft, science instruments, ground support computers,
mission flight plan design, and navigation design. In total,
development was completed 7.7% under budget. Additional costs
include $65 million for the Delta-7925 rocket that sent Surveyor
to Mars, and about $20 million per year for mission operations
and science analysis.  Sound expensive? To put the price of the
mission in perspective, consider the fact that some recently
released motion pictures have cost over $200 million in terms of
filming, advertising, and distribution.  What ever happened to
Mars Observer? Mars Observer was a spacecraft that NASA launched
in September 1992 with the same scientific instruments carried
by Mars Global Surveyor. On 21 August 1993, several days before
arriving at Mars, contact was lost with Mars Observer.  Because
there were no