SPACE reports, “It appears that China has moved up its agenda for bringing Mars samples to Earth, and aims to do so before the U.S. achieves this same goal. NASA’s Mars sample return plan, a joint effort with the European Space Agency (ESA), continues to be scrutinized. A newly launched strategy review team will advise agency leadership about what to do now and offer recommendations by year’s end, or early next year.”
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Tag: Mars Sample Return
NASA Selects Rocket Lab for Mars Sample Return Study
Space News reports, “NASA has awarded a contract to Rocket Lab to study alternative concepts for Mars Sample Return (MSR), joining several other efforts to improve the cost and schedule of the program. Rocket Lab said Oct. 7 that it received a contract to study what it called ‘a simplified, end-to-end mission concept’ for MSR that would deliver samples being collected by the Perseverance rover to Earth for a ‘fraction’ of currently projected costs, estimated to be as high as $11 billion, and several years earlier than 2040.”
Full Story (Space News)