Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s mega-project of scooping up and transferring to our planet specimens of Mars is under intense scrutiny.

For one, it never looked easy.

Last September an independent study board released its findings after taking a hard look at the Mars sample return (MSR) project. NASA established the group of experts to appraise the technical requirements, price tag, and schedule plans of the concept prior to confirmation of the mission’s design.

Concept art depicts a Mars menagerie of machines that would team to transport to Earth samples of rocks, soil, and atmosphere being collected from the Martian surface by NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Hit the pause button

A key finding: The board called for programmatic overhaul of the endeavor, projected to cost in the range of $8 billion, perhaps nearly $11 billion. Furthermore, the board reported a near zero probability of key MSR elements to being ready to meet the 2027/2028 launch readiness dates.

Seemingly caught between a Mars rock and a hard place, NASA has since hit the pause button on the Mars sample return initiative.

Reactions to the now stymied go-getting Mars sample effort are numerous and varied.

Go to my new Multiverse Media/SpaceRef story – “NASA Plan to Shoot and Ship Samples of the Red Planet on Hold” – at:

https://spaceref.com/newspace-and-tech/nasa-plan-to-shoot-and-ship-samples-of-the-red-planet-on-hold/

Once on Earth, Mars specimens will make their way to a sample receiving facility.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech