The mission is not deemed feasible given the high budget it demands and the uncertainty around its operations.

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 ...

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 ...

Update: A minibus spending package passed by the House of Representatives on January 8, 2026, effectively cancels the Mars Sample Return program by eliminating almost all funding for future missions.

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’s interim administrator, Sean Duffy, was fired up on Wednesday when he joined a teleconference to talk about new scientific findings that concerned the potential for life to have once existed on ...

NASA's Perseverance rover may have uncovered hints of ancient Martian life, but China's Tianwen 3 mission could be the first to deliver samples back to Earth. When you purchase through links on our ...