spacetoday.net: NASA to study two alternative architectures for Mars Sample Return

Posted: Sat, Jan 11, 2025, 10:33 AM ET (1533 GMT)
NASA will study two alternative options for its Mars Sample Return (MSR) program in an effort to reduce cost and schedule overruns. NASA announced Tuesday it will examine one option, which will leverage JPL's "sky crane" technology, used for landing the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, for landing a spacecraft to pick up the samples Perseverance has collected and launch them into orbit for return to Earth. A second option would instead use a commercial "heavy lander" from a company like Blue Origin or SpaceX. NASA estimates those alternatives would cost between $5.8 billion and $7.7 billion, less than previous estimates of up to $11 billion for MSR, and could return samples as soon as 2035. NASA said the studies will last about a year and a half, but the agency needs Congress to provide at least $300 million in the current fiscal year.