NASA gathers Martian samples, eager to bring them to Earth, yet uncertain about the return journey

NASA is facing budget constraints as it plans for the Mars Sample Return project, a multi-phase mission aimed at bringing Martian rock and soil samples back to Earth. The current budget for the project, estimated at $11 billion, has been deemed too expensive by the space agency.

The Mars Sample Return programme, which includes the Perseverance rover currently on Mars, collecting and caching samples, is a crucial step towards understanding the Red Planet's history and potential for life. However, the proposed return date of the samples in 2040 is too far away for NASA, and the agency is now seeking novel concepts to make the mission more affordable and efficient.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson is committed to retrieving the Mars samples, and has called on all NASA centers and partners in the wider space industry to propose new plans for returning the samples more quickly and affordably. The new plans include using already proven technologies, reducing the need for lengthy and expensive testing, and finding ways to reduce the mission's complexity, such as using a smaller ascent vehicle.

Nicky Fox, NASA's associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, emphasizes that organizing a mission at this level of complexity requires decades of lessons on how to run a large mission. She adds that the agency is working towards landing humans on Mars in the 2040s, and the Mars Sample Return mission is a significant step towards that goal.

The mission's success would enable scientists to study pieces of the Solar System under pristine laboratory conditions, potentially providing critical new insights into the origins and evolution of Mars, the Solar System, and life on Earth.

For current details about which organizations have registered with NASA to develop new concepts for the Mars Sample Return mission, direct inquiries to NASA or official mission announcements would be necessary. The plan is to follow up with two more missions: a NASA-led rover and ascent vehicle to collect the samples and launch them into orbit; and a spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency to capture and return them to Earth.

NASA aims to bring the Mars Sample Return mission forward and deliver revolutionary science from Mars, ensuring that the Red Planet's secrets remain within our reach.

NASA gathers Martian samples, eager to bring them to Earth, yet uncertain about the return journey