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In a significant development for space exploration, NASA’s Perseverance rover is actively collecting and storing Martian samples for a future return too Earth. However, the agency’s ability to proceed with this aspiring endeavor is currently hampered by a critical shortage of funding.
Meanwhile, a separate event saw a juvenile Ceratosaurus skeleton, a carnivorous dinosaur from the late Jurassic period smaller than a Tyrannosaurus Rex, fetch an impressive $26 million at auction. Paleontologist Steve Brusatte expressed concern that such high-profile sales could negatively impact scientific endeavors.
