NASA’s Mars Sample Return Mission Is Dead

NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission is dead

Congress backs Trump administration’s efforts to kill project that would ferry martian rocks to Earth

House Minibus Bill Would Kill Mars Sample Return

The dozens of tubes of Martian dust collected so far by the Perseverance rover are waiting for a ride that may never come.  The House minibus appropriations bill governing NASA spending in FY2026, which was released this week, doesn’t mince words. “The agreement does not support the existing Mars Sample Return (MSR) program,” lawmakers wrote in an accompanying report explaining why lawmakers structured the bill the way they did.  How we got here…

Mars Sample Return: Given the Political Axe?

The existing NASA/European Space Agency effort to establish a Mars Sample Return program is slated to be discontinued. That’s the word according to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026. It calls for an overall NASA budget figure of $24.44 billion and change. As noted in a section on Mars Future Missions: […]