This article was automatically translated from HIBAPRESS, the Arabic version:
This article was automatically translated from HIBAPRESS, the Arabic version:
Heba Press – Tracking
The US Space Agency (NASA) announced yesterday Tuesday that it may seek help from SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, and Blue Origin, owned by Jeff Bezos, to help transport rock samples from Mars on Earth.
Faced with the significant increase in costs and numerous delays, NASA has been forced to reconsider the mission to repatriate these samples and is currently studying two options, one of which depends in part on private parties.
This comes as China plans to launch a similar mission in 2028, according to state media. If it succeeds, it will become the first country to achieve this goal.
The round trip to Mars takes several years, due to its great complexity.
NASA initially sought to bring samples around 2030, but an internal audit concluded last year that this date was “unrealistic” and indicated that this mission would not be completed before 2040.
NASA Director Bill Nelson said in a press conference yesterday that the estimated deadline to complete the mission is now between 2035 and 2039 with these two new options. One of them consists of relying on a private actor during the first phase of the mission, while the second refers to a system already used by NASA.
Both options would save NASA, facing budget pressures, savings. By 2024, experts estimate that the initial cost of the mission will reach around $11 billion, almost double the amount initially set.
With the two new proposals, the cost is expected to drop to between $5.8 million and $7.7 million, officials said.
