NASA proposes cheaper, quicker way to get Mars rocks and soil to Earth

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA is pitching a cheaper and quicker way of getting rocks and soil back from Mars, after seeing its original plan swell to $11 billion.

Administrator Bill Nelson presented a revised scenario Tuesday, less than two weeks before stepping down as NASA's chief when President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated.

Nelson said he "pulled the plug" months ago on the original sample return plan given the soaring costs and the delay in getting anything back from Mars before 2040.

"That was just simply unacceptable,” Nelson said.

NASA last year asked industry and others to come up with better options to ensure the samples collected by NASA’s Perseverance rover arrive here in the 2030s, well ahead of astronauts venturing to the red planet.

The space agency said it was considering two options that would cost in the $7 billion range, including one that would involve commercial partners. The number of spacecraft and launches would remain the same, but NASA said the proposed options would streamline the mission.

A final decision would come next year.

Perseverance has collected more than two dozen samples since its 2021 landing, with more to come in NASA’s high-priority search for signs of ancient, microscopic Martian life. Scientists want to analyze the samples from the red planet’s long-dry river delta in labs on Earth.

Nelson said it will be up to the incoming administration to decide how best to retrieve the Mars samples and money needs to start flowing to accomplish it. For Nelson’s replacement, Trump has nominated tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, who’s rocketed into orbit twice on his own dime.

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