Congressional supporters of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission have buckled to pressure from the Trump administration to kill the centerpiece of NASA’s exploration plans over the next decade.

Right now one of the most advanced planetary explorers ever built is scouring the surface of Mars. Supported by a team of hundreds of scientists back on Earth, the Perseverance rover has traveled ...

Mars Sample Return was supposed to be the crown jewel of planetary science—bringing pristine Martian rock back to Earth to ...

NASA’s ultimate mission to discover if life exists on Mars has been effectively cancelled. A new US spending bill released this week backs the White House’s move to end the costly programme, which has ...

The rock sample which appears to show signs of ancient Martian life. (Credit: NASA) Following the Perseverance rover's recent discovery of possible signs of ancient Martian life, there has been a ...

In what appears to be a jab at NASA, Rocket Lab this week unveiled its own plan to return rock and dust samples the space agency has been collecting from Mars’ Jezero Crater since 2021. NASA earlier ...

A “selfie” taken by the Perseverance Mars rover as it examines Cheyava Falls, an arrowhead-shaped rock in the center that contains potential biosignatures of past Martian life. Credit: ...

NASA aims to return Martian soil and rock samples to Earth in the 2030s, marking the first such planetary sample return mission. A decision on the mission profile is delayed until mid-2026. Two ...

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