NASA Aims for Cost-Effective Mars Sample Return by 2030s
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 16, 2024

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced new strategies for the Mars Sample Return program, highlighting the agency's initiative to incorporate innovative designs to ensure the successful return of Martian samples to Earth. These samples are expected to deepen our understanding of the solar system's formation and evolution, provide insights for future human missions, and assist in the search for ancient life on Mars.

Over the past 25 years, NASA has been methodically researching Mars' early history to shed light on the development of potentially habitable worlds, including our own planet. The Mars Sample Return has been an international goal for over two decades. Since its 2021 landing, NASA's Perseverance rover has been collecting Martian samples for eventual Earth return.

"Mars Sample Return will be one of the most complex missions NASA has ever undertaken. The bottom line is, an $11 billion budget is too expensive, and a 2040 return date is too far away," stated Nelson.

"Successfully collecting and launching samples from Mars, and transporting them over 33 million miles back to Earth are formidable challenges. We must explore innovative, cost-effective solutions to advance this mission within a feasible timeline."

The agency has also responded to the Mars Sample Return Independent Review Board's September 2023 report. Updates include simplified mission design, enhanced resiliency, improved risk management, and stronger coordination, aiming for a budget between $8 billion and $11 billion. Given fiscal constraints and the necessity of a balanced science portfolio, the mission is targeted for 2040.

To accelerate and reduce costs, NASA is engaging its community to develop a revised strategy that utilizes innovative and established technologies. The agency will soon request industry proposals for mission architectures that could return the samples in the 2030s while minimizing cost, risk, and complexity.

"NASA does visionary science - and returning diverse, scientifically-relevant samples from Mars is a key priority," commented Nicky Fox, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.

"To organize a mission of this magnitude, we draw on decades of experience and lessons from conducting large missions and independent reviews. Our next steps will enable us to advance this transformative mission and uncover groundbreaking scientific data from Mars, providing vital new insights into the origins and evolution of Mars, our solar system, and life on Earth."

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