NASA is seeking a faster, cheaper way to bring Mars samples to Earth

By MARCIA DUNN
AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is seeking a faster, cheaper way to bring rock samples from Mars to Earth. In the meantime, the space agency says the effort is on hold. Reviews put the total cost of the project at $11 billion, with an arrival date of 2040. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson says that’s too much and too late. So he’s asking private industry and each NASA center to come up with other options. The goal is to get at least some of the samples to Earth sometime in the 2030s for around $7 billion. A NASA rover on Mars has already collected some of the soil and rock samples.