From the 11 billion initially expected, the costs are in fact reduced to 5-7 billion dollars, NASA Chief Administrator Bill Nelson said today. The American space agency responded to the observations of the independent review committee which in September 2023 had judged the program "unrealistic" The decision is therefore not to give up the mission, but to organize it with a lower budget, Nelson said.
However, the agency intends to ask the industry for solutions that will allow the samples to be brought to Earth in 2020 rather than 2040. The Mars SampleReturn "is one of the most complex missions ever undertaken by NASA," said the chief administrator of NASA referring to the observations of the Independent Committee. The program intended to bring to Earth the first soil samples collected on a Another planet "remains an important national objective," Nelson said in an online press conference. Itempi may be defined accordingly, and this article may be updated to reflect the changes made by NASA. For confidential support call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details.