Space.com on MSN

Mars Sample Return now! (op-ed)

The White House's 2026 budget request axes NASA's long-held plan to bring Mars samples to Earth for analysis. Here's why that cancellation would be a mistake.

NASA Sets 2028 Launch For First Nuclear Mission To Mars Days Before Return To The Moon

NASA plans a 2028 nuclear-powered Mars mission using SR-1 Freedom and Skyfall helicopters, aiming to transform deep-space ...
Yahoo

NASA’s Mars Sample Return Mission in Jeopardy as U.S. Considers Abandoning Retrieval

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Right now one of the most advanced planetary explorers ever built is scouring the surface of Mars. Supported by a team of hundreds ...
Space.com on MSN

Trump's 2026 budget plan would cancel NASA's Mars Sample Return mission. Experts say that's a 'major step back'

The White House says NASA's Mars Sample Return mission is a waste of money, but experts say the mission could help it achieve ...
Astronomy

NASA decision on Mars Sample Return reboot slides to 2026

NASA has set a goal to return rock and soil samples from the surface of Mars in the 2030s. The mission would represent the first time scientific samples from another planet have been returned to Earth ...
SpaceNews

China’s Tianwen-3 Mars sample return mission moves into spacecraft construction phase

A crescent of the northern hemisphere of Mars taken by Tianwen-1's medium-resolution camera in March 2021. Credit: CNSA/PEC ESPOO, Finland — China’s Tianwen-3 Mars sample return mission is entering ...
Aviation Week

NASA Awards Contract For Mars Sample Return Rendezvous Testbed

NASA has awarded a contract to build a testbed for optically guided rendezvous and docking in Mars orbit — a key technique that will be required for a Mars sample return mission. A sample return ...