Tag: sample

NASA wants new ideas for its troubled Mars Sample Return mission

NASA’s Mars Sample Return program has hit several snags in recent months after being told its current $11 billion plan is too expensive. The existing Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission plan would require multiple launches to Mars in order to eventually place a Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) on the Red Planet’s surface. From there, either […]

Episode 107 — Mars Sample Return Blues

On Episode 107 of This Week In Space, Rod and Tariq talk with journalist Leonard David about NASA’s troubled Mars sample return mission. The robotic program has its roots in the 1960s, when NASA started thinking about sending robots to fetch Mars soil even before Mariner 4’s first flyby of the planet. The Russians pondered […]