The Mars Sample Return mission, which aims to bring samples collected by the Perseverance rover on Mars to Earth, is facing some pushback from California lawmakers. Six members of Congress, including Judy Chu, Laphonza Butler, Mike Garcia, and Young Kim, along with California senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, wrote to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson to express their opposition to recent cuts to the mission.
The lawmakers described NASA’s decision to cut the mission’s funding as “short-sighted and misguided,” citing both job losses and lost scientific opportunities. They also referenced the House appropriations bill, which directs NASA to allocate no less than $949,300,000 for the Mars Sample Return mission, and to ensure that its fiscal year 2025 budget request includes the funding necessary to complete the mission launch no later than 2030.
The Mars Sample Return mission is the next phase of Mars 2020, which involved sending the Perseverance rover to investigate an ancient river delta on Mars and collect rock samples. The mission requires a complex suite of machinery, including helicopters, a launcher, and vehicles to bring the samples back to Earth.
However, NASA recently announced that it would be “ramping back” on the MSR program work due to its unrealistic timeline and cost estimates. The program’s full lifecycle is now estimated to cost between $8 billion and $11 billion, far exceeding the initial expectations.
In response to NASA’s decision, the California legislators expressed concern that the cuts could jeopardize the launch window for the mission and lead to job losses. They emphasized the importance of maintaining the mission’s funding to support highly skilled workers and American businesses involved in the project.
As launch windows to Mars occur roughly every 26 months, missing the timeline for the Mars Sample Return mission could have significant implications for the future of space exploration and our understanding of Mars’ ancient past.
It remains to be seen how NASA will proceed with the Mars Sample Return mission in light of the lawmakers’ opposition and the challenges posed by funding and timeline constraints.