Mars, NASA and Earth

NASA Plans Cheaper, Faster Ways To Bring Back Mars Samples By 2030s
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has planned two new strategies to bring crucial samples from Mars to Earth, aiming for a return by the 2030s.
Mars rock samples may contain evidence of alien life, but can NASA get them back to Earth?
NASA will explore two different strategies for fetching Mars rocks collected by the Perseverance rover, and there's a chance these samples contain evidence of alien life.
NASA collected Mars rocks to haul to Earth. It still hasn’t decided how.
The Mars Sample Return mission has been ranked as the highest priority by planetary scientists, who hope to find signs of ancient life on Mars.
NASA exploring two lower-cost options to go forward with Mars Sample Return mission
NASA announced Tuesday that it is exploring two options to move forward with its mission to return samples from Mars at a lower cost.
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 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 overhaul for Mars Sample Return mission 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 proposes cheaper and quicker way to get Mars rocks and soil to Earth
NASA is pitching a cheaper and quicker way of getting rocks and soil back from Mars. Administrator Bill Nelson presented two options on Tuesday, less than two weeks before stepping down as NASA's chief.
NASA announces new approach to Mars Sample Return Program during news conference Tuesday
NASA announced Tuesday their new approach to their Mars Sample Return Program. The agency will develop two landing architectures in parallel, promoting competition and innovation while aiming for cost and schedule efficiency.
NASA faces delays in martian rock return mission
The Perseverance rover has collected Martian rock samples in two distinct ways, which NASA believes might contain evidence of extraterrestrial life. This mission has been underway since 2021, with rocks and sediments gathered from the ancient lakebed on Mars.
Nasa reveals new plan to bring soil samples from Mars back to Earth
Nasa has unveiled a revised plan to bring samples from the surface of Mars back to Earth. The space agency has announced it would be pursuing two potential options, both costing around $7billion, to retrieve rock and soil samples currently being collected by the Perseverance rover - dramatically reducing the mission's cost from $11bn and
Moon over Mars? Congress is determined to kill Elon Musk’s space dream.
Trump confidant Elon Musk wants NASA to drop its ambitious plans to return to the moon and instead head straight to Mars.
Evidence of Life on Mars? NASA’s Bold Strategy to Recover the Proof
NASA unveils a groundbreaking approach to bring Martian rock samples back to Earth by 2026, introducing competition between ...
NASA collected potential evidence of life on Mars. Now it’s pitching new plans to retrieve the cache
NASA has arrived at two ways of returning samples collected on Mars to Earth. Now, the agency will test the options to see if ...
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Could Elon Musk Upend NASA’s Return to the Moon? Astronaut Weighs In
Reid Wiseman, commander of NASA’s Artemis II mission to fly the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with a crew around ...