<div dir="ltr">All,<div><br></div><div>We were working toward a talk by a NASA Scientist on the Mars Sample Return Mission</div><div><br></div><div>Unfortunately, according to today's Nature Briefing</div><div><br></div><div>NASA abandons Mars rock return mission<br>NASA is seeking fresh ideas for delivering Mars rocks collected by the Perseverance rover to Earth. With its up to US$11 billion price tag, the current plan is “too expensive” and its schedule is “unacceptable”, said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. In the agency’s original vision, a spacecraft would carry a lander and a rocket to Mars. The rocket would launch the lander plus samples into Martian orbit, where they would meet another spacecraft that would then return the samples to Earth.<br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div class="gmail-c-article-header" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;margin-bottom:40px;font-size:18px"><div class="gmail-c-article-header__restrict" style="box-sizing:inherit;width:751.289px"><ul class="gmail-c-article-identifiers" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(111,111,111);display:flex;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.3;list-style:none;margin:0px 0px 8px;padding:0px"><li class="gmail-c-article-identifiers__item" style="box-sizing:inherit;border-right:1px solid rgb(111,111,111);list-style:none;margin-right:8px;padding-right:8px"><span class="gmail-c-article-identifiers__type" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-weight:700">NEWS</span></li><li class="gmail-c-article-identifiers__item" style="box-sizing:inherit;border-right:0px;list-style:none;margin-right:0px;padding-right:0px">15 April 2024</li></ul><h1 class="gmail-c-article-magazine-title" style="margin:0.67em 0px 16px;font-size:2.813rem;font-family:Harding,Palatino,serif;line-height:1.2;box-sizing:inherit">NASA admits plan to bring Mars rocks to Earth won’t work — and seeks fresh ideas</h1><div class="gmail-u-clearfix" style="box-sizing:inherit"><div class="gmail-c-article-teaser-text" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:Harding,Palatino,serif;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:24px">The agency’s head calls the current plan for delivering samples collected by the Perseverance rover “too expensive” and its schedule “unacceptable.”</div></div></div><div class="gmail-c-article-author-list-container gmail-u-clearfix" style="box-sizing:inherit;padding:5px 0px"><ul class="gmail-c-article-author-list gmail-c-article-author-list--short gmail-js-no-scroll" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:inline;font-size:1rem;list-style:none;margin:0px 8px 0px 0px;padding:0px;width:100%">By <li class="gmail-c-article-author-list__item" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:inline;padding-right:0px"><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01109-1#author-0" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,102,153);vertical-align:baseline;word-break:break-word;box-sizing:inherit">Sumeet Kulkarni</a></li></ul></div><div class="gmail-c-article-extras-additional-links" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:flex;width:751.289px"><ul class="gmail-c-article-social-list gmail-u-hide-print" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:inline-block;line-height:1.3;list-style:none;margin:0px;padding:0px"><li class="gmail-c-article-social-list__item" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:inline;list-style:none;margin-right:8px"><a class="gmail-c-article-social-list__icon--inline" aria-label="Tweet this article" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=NASA+admits+plan+to+bring+Mars+rocks+to+Earth+won%E2%80%99t+work+%E2%80%94+and+seeks+fresh+ideas&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-024-01109-1" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,102,153);vertical-align:baseline;word-break:break-word;box-sizing:inherit;border:1px solid rgb(218,218,218);border-radius:50%;display:inline-block;padding:20px"><span class="gmail-u-visually-hidden" style="box-sizing:inherit;border:0px;height:1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0px;width:1px">Twitter</span></a> </li><li class="gmail-c-article-social-list__item" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:inline;list-style:none;margin-right:8px"><a class="gmail-c-article-social-list__icon--inline" aria-label="Facebook this article" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-024-01109-1" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,102,153);vertical-align:baseline;word-break:break-word;box-sizing:inherit;border:1px solid rgb(218,218,218);border-radius:50%;display:inline-block;padding:20px"><span class="gmail-u-visually-hidden" style="box-sizing:inherit;border:0px;height:1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0px;width:1px">Facebook</span></a> </li><li class="gmail-c-article-social-list__item" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:inline;list-style:none;margin-right:8px"><a class="gmail-c-article-social-list__icon--inline" aria-label="Email this article" href="mailto:?subject=NASA%20admits%20plan%20to%20bring%20Mars%20rocks%20to%20Earth%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