NASA's Mars Mission Stirs Doubts in US Senate

NASA's ambitious Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission has drawn criticism from the US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, prompting the panel to propose a fiscal year 2024 budget allocation for the mission at $300 million, less than one-third of NASA's $949 million request.

The MSR mission aims to gather NASA's Perseverance rover's soil samples from Mars to study the planet's history and possible life. The Senate is skeptical about NASA's capacity to execute the mission, in particular, because of the project's rising costs and ongoing delays, according to a report from The Hill.

The Senate committee highlighted worries about the technical difficulties MSR faces and its possible effects on other approved missions in a report that accompanied the proposed budget. The panel doubted NASA's ability to keep the mission's cost under $5.3 billion. NASA's mission development expenses have increased to $9 billion from $4.4 billion early estimate.

The indicated cost covers creating and testing mission components but does not include launch, operation, or any potential additional sample-receiving facility building expenses.

US Senate Might Divert MSR Budget If NASA Fails to Comply

The Senate report has instructed NASA to present a comprehensive financial plan within 180 days of the budget's implementation, within the expected budget, to ease the worries.

Suppose NASA is unable to achieve these criteria. In that case, the Senate may withdraw the $300 million budgeted for the project, and NASA will need to look into possibilities to rework or de-scope MSR or risk mission cancellation, as reported by Spaceflight Insider.

In case of cancellation, the Senate report also suggested a strategy for reallocating the MSR funds. The money would go to NASA's Artemis program, the Dragonfly mission to Titan, the flagship orbiter probe to Uranus, and the Geospace Dynamics Constellation mission.

Additionally, the Senate urges NASA to build a Sample Receiving Facility in a state without a NASA facility if the MSR mission goes forward. National labs with established bioanalytical scientific capabilities, biological and environmental research facilities, and biodefense capabilities would be given priority by this institution.

The US House of Representatives and Senate must concur on a final budget before it is sent to President Biden for approval during the current fiscal year 2024 financial process.

Organic Matter Found on Mars

Meanwhile, NASA's Perseverance rover uncovered "diverse" signs of "preserved organic matter" in a crater, according to Gizmodo.

Though life no longer exists on Mars, the latest findings illuminate the planet's ancient carbon cycle and potential to sustain life. The Perseverance rover's latest organic chemical discovery adds to the Red Planet's interesting past.

Astrobiologist Joseph Razzell Hollis of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Natural History Museum in London says the discovery supports earlier robotic missions to Mars and suggests the planet once had a lot of "organic material," mostly carbon and hydrogen. He said that every finding and observation helps in improving understanding of Mars' history and if it hosted life.