NASA scales back the Mars Sample Return program, intended to bring samples of Martian soil to Earth. From the 11 billion initially expected, the costs are in fact reduced to 5-7 billion dollars, NASA Chief Administrator Bill Nelson said today in an online press conference. The American space agency thus responded to the observations of the independent review committee which in September 2023 had judged the program to be “unrealistic” both in terms of the budget and the implementation times initially indicated in 2040.
The program to bring the first soil samples collected on another planet to Earth “remains an important national goal,” Nelson said. The Mars Sample Return “is one of the most complex missions ever undertaken by NASA. The point is that a budget of 11 billion dollars is too expensive and the return date of 2040 is too far away”, said the chief administrator of the NASA referring to the observations of the independent Committee. The decision is therefore not to give up the mission, but to organize it with a lower budget. For this reason, NASA asked its researchers and technicians to develop a program based on technologies different from those initially considered. Times may be defined accordingly. However, the American space agency intends to solicit solutions from the industry that will allow the samples to be brought to Earth in 2020 rather than 2040.
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