Mars, NASA

NASA’s Mars Sample Return Program Faces Stark Choices
NASA sees two paths for saving its beleaguered plan to retrieve materials from the Red Planet but won’t choose between them until 2026
NASA will announce update to Mars sample return plans today. Here's how to listen in
NASA's beleaguered Mars Sample Return program currently faces extreme costs of up to $11 billion and a timeline that could reach 2040.
NASA defers decision on Mars Sample Return to the Trump administration
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson left a final decision on a new mission architecture to the next NASA administrator working under the incoming Trump administration. President-elect Donald Trump nominated entrepreneur and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman as the agency's 15th administrator last month.
NASA exploring 2 options to lower costs, speed up Mars Sample Return mission
NASA hopes a revised plan will get Mars samples back to Earth faster and cost less than the agency's original plan.
NASA won't decide on Mars Sample Return plan until mid-2026
NASA recently deemed this situation unacceptable. In April 2024, agency chief Bill Nelson announced that an overhaul of the MSR strategy is in the works, saying that NASA will seek innovative new ideas from its research centers, private industry and academia.
NASA punts Mars Sample Return decision to the next administration
Anyone hoping for a clear path forward this year for NASA's imperiled Mars Sample Return mission will have to wait a little longer.
NASA’s Answer to Mars Sample Return Problem: Develop Two Plans
The Perseverance rover has been collecting Martian rock samples since 2021, but NASA is still figuring out how to bring them back to Earth.
NASA is fighting to return samples from Mars. Here are the two ways it might do it in the 2030s
NASA has arrived at two ways of returning samples collected on Mars to Earth. Now, the agency will test the options to see if the cache can make it back in the 2030s.
NASA narrows down to 2 options its reworked Mars Sample Return mission
NASA announced Tuesday it had narrowed down to two options the reworked Mars Sample Return mission aiming for a cheaper and quicker completion than the version that had been killed last year.
NASA’s Big Mars Update: How to Watch the Upcoming Sample Return Reveal
The space agency will provide a broadcast update on the marquee mission that is intended to recover samples of Martian rock for study on Earth.
NASA Will Let Trump Decide How to Bring Mars Rocks to Earth
The Mars Sample Return effort was billions of dollars over budget and not expected to return to Earth with its samples until 2040.
NASA scrapped its $11 billion scheme to grab Mars rocks that may point to alien life. Now it has a faster, cheaper plan.
NASA's mission to return samples from Mars and potentially discover the first signs of alien life has a new timeline. The ...
NASA’s plans to get Mars rocks delivered to the Utah desert are changing
Bringing Martian rock and soil samples to Earth is among the top priorities of planetary scientists. By studying fresh rocks ...