Mars, NASA

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 samples may arrive sooner.
Mars samples that could help us find alien life are stuck there until at least 2035, NASA says
Dozens of samples collected from missions on Mars that could be used to detect ancient microbial life could be returned as soon as 2035 and as late as 2039, depending on the course of the next few months, NASA announced Tuesday.
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’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 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 the cache can make it back in the 2030s.
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 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 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.
This is how NASA aims to bring Mars rock and soil samples at a cheaper and faster rate
NASA proposes a quicker, cost-effective plan to bring Mars samples to Earth by 2030, reducing the mission cost from $11 billion to around $7 billion.
NASA overhauls plan to bring samples from Mars back to Earth
NASA on Tuesday announced an overhaul to its plan to collect samples from Mars and return them to Earth. Agency officials said they have decided to scrap parts of their original plan to cut down on the mission’s technical difficulty and cost and to shorten the timeline for when the samples could be brought back.
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.
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Curiosity Rover Unveils Pure Sulfur Crystals on Mars: A Game-Changing Discovery
NASA's Curiosity rover has made a groundbreaking discovery on Mars by uncovering pure sulfur crystals within a broken rock.
Sharp Martian Rocks Turns Curiosity Rover
NASA's Curiosity rover has encountered patches of sharp “gator-back” rocks causing mission planners to look for a new route ...