Posted by geox 4 hours ago
MSR is still in a limbo though, which isn't too surprising - between how much of a disaster was JPL's original MSR proposal, how much of a mess NASA is right now, and how much of a battleground NASA's budget has devolved into.
The article was posted in January of this year. The "next administration" refers to the now-current Trump-Vance administration, which at that point was still incoming.
For those interested in the topic, please follow the official first-party source here: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-sample-return/
> During formulation, NASA will proceed with exploring and evaluating two distinct means of landing the payload platform on Mars. The first option will leverage previously flown entry, descent, and landing system designs, namely the sky crane method, demonstrated with the Curiosity and Perseverance missions. The second option will capitalize on using new commercial capabilities to deliver the lander payload to the surface of Mars.
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-to-explore-two-landin...
Cutting funds like that have been doing, it will be lucky if NASA can send someone down the street to get milk :) I would think returning samples from Mars would be a big help on exploring Mars for potential settlements.
I guess they believe Thoughts and Prayers will be enough to explore Mars.
Goals that NASA projects did not achieve in the promised timeline: Artimis I, II and III, Constellation Program, Mars Observer, Climate Orbiter, Polar Lander, and Phobos 1, Hubble Space Telescope, X-33 and -34.
In both cases I think that the unreliability stems not from incompetence, but the degree of difficulty.
[1]: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chinas-tianwen-3-...