NASA has proposed two new potential strategies for returning crucial Martian samples to Earth by the 2030s, offering alternatives to the original Mars Sample Return program. The initial plan, a joint effort between NASA and the European Space Agency, was deemed too costly and complicated after an independent review projected a $11 billion price tag and delayed the sample return from 2031 to 2040—an unacceptable timeline, according to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. The agency aims to choose between the new strategies, which seek to reduce complexity, cost, and mission duration, by mid-2026.
Since landing on Mars in February 2021, NASA’s Perseverance rover has been collecting rocks and dust from Jezero Crater, a former lake and river delta site, which could help determine if life ever existed on the red planet. Returning the samples to Earth is a crucial, yet complex task. Both the original and proposed mission architectures involve multiple spacecraft to land on Mars and transport the samples back to Earth.
In April, NASA solicited new plans from its centers and industry partners to return the samples in a more cost-effective and streamlined manner. A review team assessed 11 studies and made recommendations that have been refined. Dr. Nicky Fox, NASA’s associate administrator for Science Mission Directorate, shared that two landing options are being explored: the first would use the sky crane technology that landed both Perseverance and Curiosity on Mars, while the second would involve using commercial heavy-lift vehicle landers from partners like SpaceX and Blue Origin.
Mars has posed significant challenges for landers due to its thin atmosphere, which is too thick to allow for safe entry without a heat shield and too thin to rely on parachutes alone. To tackle this, engineers developed the sky crane system for the Curiosity rover’s descent, which was later used for Perseverance’s landing in 2021.
