NASA seeks cheaper ideas for Mars sample return mission

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — NASA is seeking a cheaper, simpler approach to one of its top science priorities in the midst of a budget crunch — retrieving precious soil samples collected on Mars and flying them back to Earth, U.S. space agency officials said on Monday.

A formal request for proposals goes out Tuesday to various NASA centers and laboratories, as well as to space industry companies, asking how to revamp a program mired in technical complexities, spending constraints and ballooning costs, according to NASA executives.

Agency officials said in a conference call with reporters they expect alternative plans submitted for review this fall or early winter.

Associate NASA Administrator Nicky Fox said the overhaul would focus on “innovation and proven technology,” rather than on huge new technological leaps, as a way of reducing development time, risks and costs.

It was unclear how NASA would ultimately reconcile the seeming paradox of using similar technology for spaceflight systems to accomplish something never done before, especially the feat of launching a rocket from the surface of another planet.

The move to redesign the mars sample return strategy comes after a NASA-commissioned independent review concluded last September that the program was hindered by “unrealistic budget and schedule expectations from the beginning.”

The review also found the mission “organized under an unwieldy structure” and “not arranged to be led effectively.”

The effort has been further clouded by deep spending cuts Congress imposed on space programs this year, forcing hundreds of layoffs at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Los Angeles, whose teams are leading the Mars mission.