Rock Sample from Mars May Arrive Later Due to Lack of Money

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which continues its work on Mars with vehicles such as the Perseverance rover, in 2033 He was planning to bring the rocky samples collected from the planet to Earth in a vehicle to be sent in the coming years. However, recent news has shown that this mission is facing some problems.

At a recent meeting, it became clear that NASA needed more money for the mission. NASA President Bill Nelson is due for the mission to bring samples from Mars this fiscal year. another $250 million He added that they needed Also in 2024 250 million dollars He added that he needed more.

A sample return mission from Mars, which would require multiple vehicles, could cost more than $7 billion

The mission to return the rocky sample from Mars will be one of the most challenging missions NASA has ever undertaken. In partnership with NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) launch in 2028 The planned mission will aim to bring rock samples collected by the Perseverance rover to our planet. For this too comprising orbiter, lander, two helicopters and a rocket, that is, a series of spacecraft will be required, which will need a very large budget.

That’s why it had been emphasized for some time that the mission would be quite expensive. In the estimates made, both NASA and ESA can cost at least $7 billion was specified. However, this estimate of the actual cost of the task There are also concerns that it may it was quite a lot. Anyway, NASA is just for the 2024 budget of this mission. $949.3 million had requested. Also for 2023 822.3 million dollar Let’s add that it’s taken.

If the mission really needs additional money, it may need support from elsewhere in NASA’s budget. This has the potential to affect other missions. Your agency is already struggling with budget problems need to specify. That’s why we saw that VERITAS, the mission to send vehicles to Venus, was delayed indefinitely.

NASA recently launched an independent mission for the mission. board It should not go without saying that he founded it. It was stated that the purpose of this committee would be to ensure that the mission to bring samples from Mars was on time and in accordance with the budget. But tell me how well it will work.

There is also a possibility that the task will be delayed due to budgetary issues.

Another solution to the budget problem might be to postpone this historic task. According to SpaceNews, Nelson’s statements at the meeting show that such a thing is possible:Some of these costs will not be able to be escaped and we will have to make a choice. We can handle it, but it may not be when we hope. Spreading it out over a longer period of time might solve the problem.”

It is not possible to say anything about how this mission, which will be one of the most important missions in the history of NASA and humanity, will proceed. However, incoming information shows that Martian rocks will be brought to our planet even later than expected. On the other hand, it is also a matter of curiosity whether budgetary problems will affect the manned Mars missions expected to be made in late 2030 or early 2040.