The cost of NASA's Mars sample return mission soars, affecting the progress of other projects

CTOnews.com, November 13 (Xinhua)-- the Mars sample return plan, jointly designed by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), was finalized four years ago to collect about 600g samples from Mars and send them back to Earth.

According to CCTV, this ambitious plan is under great pressure. NASA's independent review panel warned that the cost of the task could soar, which could affect or cancel other NASA scientific missions.

Tu Yuan Pixabay reviewers pointed out that the initial estimated cost of the Mars sample return program was $4.4 billion (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 32.12 billion yuan), but now it looks likely to increase to $80 billion (currently about 584-80.3 billion yuan).

They believe that the plan started with an unrealistic budget and that there is currently no reliable technology, appropriate time and expected cost to complete the project within the funds available. "under the current budget, the chances of success are close to zero."

The massive crowding out of other NASA-funded projects has led to the postponement of some very important projects, such as the Venus exploration project VERITAS and the geo-spatial dynamics constellation mission to study the Earth's upper atmosphere. As a result, many scientists are divided on whether to cancel the Mars sampling return program.

"you are cutting off the artery of our science, the lifeline of our science," Alison Jaines, a plasma physicist at the University of Iowa, told Science magazine. "all of NASA's scientific missions have been hit because of the burden of the Mars sampling return program."

So what on earth caused the increase in costs? The Guardian pointed out that they seriously underestimated the size of the spacecraft needed to sample from Mars, the technical complexity of pollution prevention and supply shortages, which led to a sharp rise in costs.

In addition, the mission has not taken into account what steps need to be taken to prevent bacteria and viruses on Earth from contaminating Martian soil samples, nor have they taken into account the infection of Martian life.

While some scientists have called for the cancellation of the mission, others have stressed its transformational potential, and supporters believe that the scientific significance of the mission is worth continuing.