NASA seeks faster, cheaper way to bring Mars samples to Earth
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s plan to bring samples from Mars back to Earth is on hold until there’s a faster, cheaper way, space agency officials said Monday.
Retrieving Mars soil and rocks has been on NASA’s to-do list for decades, but the date kept moving forward, as costs ballooned. A recent independent review put the total cost at $8 billion to $11 billion, with an arrival date of 2040, about a decade later than advertised.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that’s too much and too late. He’s asking private industry and the space agency’s centers to come up with other options to revamp the project. With NASA facing across-the-board budget cuts, he wants to avoid gutting other science projects to finance the Mars sample project.
“We want to get every new and fresh idea that we can,” he said at a news conference.
NASA’s rover Perseverance already has gathered 24 core samples in tubes since landing in 2021 at Mars’ Jezero Crater, an ancient river delta. The goal is more than 30 samples to scour for possible signs of ancient Martian life.
Related articles
Steve Gleason, 47, reveals his daily 'exorcism' as he battles ALS: Ex
Former NFL star Steve Gleason has lifted the lid on his daily 'exorcism' as ALS continues to wreak h2024-05-01Chinese path to modernization carries global significance (7)
(People's Daily Online) 11:20, April 28, 2023Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque believes th2024-05-01Stormy, snowy weather expected across Japan: weather agency
(Xinhua) 15:20, March 20, 2024TOKYO, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Japan's weather agency on Wednesday said s2024-05-01Chinese vice premier calls on central SOEs to contribute more to Tibet's development
(Xinhua) 13:51, September 08, 2023LHASA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing call2024-05-01Travis Kelce agrees to new TWO
Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs have reportedly reached an agreement on a new two-year exten2024-05-01Disciplinary inspector expelled from CPC, public office
(Xinhua) 09:03, June 13, 2023BEIJING, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Liu Ran, a first-level inspector with Chin2024-05-01
atest comment