NASA Sticks With Decision to Cancel GEMS

NASA astrophysics division director Paul Hertz said today that NASA will stick by its decision to terminate the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small (GEMS) Explorer mission despite an appeal from the GEMS team to reconsider.
Hertz spoke at a media teleconference today to answer questions about the GEMS decision. He had told the National Research Council's Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics on Monday that GEMS did not pass its confirmation review to move from the formulation phase into the implementation phase. NASA missions must pass through a series of "gates" -- called Key Decision Points or KDPs -- as they progress from concept through launch. A project can be stopped or required to make changes at those KDPs.
Confirmation review is KDP-C. Hertz explained that an independent cost assessment of GEMS as part of the KDP-C process revealed that the mission would cost 20-30 percent more, at a 50 percent confidence level, than the $119 million cap (excluding launch).
A 50 percent confidence level means that there is a 50-50 chance that the project could cost either more or less than the estimate, but space projects rarely cost less.
Costs increased, he said, because the technology took longer ...