Title: NASA’s Mars Sample Return Mission Faces Doubled Costs and Delays
Date: Jun 23, 2023
NASA’s ambitious plan to bring back rocks from Mars to Earth, known as the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, is facing significant challenges as costs have doubled and delays are expected. The project, which has been a top priority for NASA and the scientific community, threatens to consume the agency’s science budget.
Former chief of NASA’s science programs, Thomas Zurbuchen, expressed his concerns about the mission, stating that it gave him sleepless nights during his tenure. Zurbuchen, who left NASA at the end of 2022, believes there is a crisis surrounding the project.
Recent briefings by the Program Manager for the mission, Richard Cook, and the director of the mission at NASA Headquarters, Jeff Gramling, revealed that the development cost for the MSR mission has skyrocketed from $4.4 billion to an estimated $8 to $9 billion. This figure does not include launch costs, operating costs, or the construction of a new sample-receiving facility, bringing the total cost to approximately $10 billion.
The MSR mission aims to better understand the geological history of Mars and search for evidence of past or present life on the planet. NASA, along with its international partners, including the European Space Agency, settled on the current design of the mission last summer. The plan involves a Sample Retriever Lander, scheduled to launch in 2028, which will receive samples collected by the Perseverance rover.
However, concerns arise regarding the operational lifespan of the Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in 2021. To mitigate risks, NASA plans to send two helicopters similar to Ingenuity as a backup plan to retrieve the samples. The samples will then be placed aboard the Mars Ascent Vehicle, developed by Lockheed Martin, and launched from Mars. An Earth return orbiter built by the European Space Agency will carry the samples back to Earth orbit.
Despite the target of returning the samples to Earth in 2033, the mission faces significant delays. Even achieving a launch in 2030 seems challenging at this point.
The science community has already expressed concerns about cost
What are the major factors contributing to the delays in NASA’s Mars Sample Return Mission, and how are they being addressed by the agency
NASA’s Mars Sample Return Mission Hit with Expensive Setback and Delays
It’s disheartening to see the Mars Sample Return Mission struggling with increased costs and delayed timelines. The potential setback not only poses challenges for NASA’s science programs but also dampens the anticipation of breakthrough discoveries from the red planet. Let’s hope they find efficient solutions to ensure this mission stays on track and continues to push the boundaries of our knowledge about Mars.