Nasa: 'New plan needed to return rocks from Mars'
Source: BBC
Nasa: 'New plan needed to return rocks from Mars'
15 April 2024
By Jonathan Amos,
Science correspondent,
@BBCAmos
The quest to return rock samples from Mars to Earth to see if they contain traces of past life is going to go through a major overhaul.
The US space agency says the current mission design could not return the materials before 2040 on the existing funds and the $11bn (£9bn) to make it happen sooner is not sustainable.
Nasa is going to canvas ideas for a cheaper, faster alternative.
It hopes to have a solution on the drawing board later in the year.
Returning rock samples from Mars is regarded as the single most important priority in planetary exploration, and has been for decades.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68819153