In a surprising move, NASA is turning to private aerospace companies for help. The Mars Sample Return mission aimed to bring precious rock and soil samples from the Red Planet back to Earth for intensive study.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter , highlighting Starship’s “potential to return serious tonnage from Mars within 5 years.” NASA seems to be eyeing that possibility. “The only conclusion you can really draw from that is they’re hoping Starship somehow is the solution here,” Casey Dreier, The Planetary Society’s Chief of Space Policy, told For scientists, getting their hands on a cache of Mars samples after three decades of planning is tantalizing. Advanced laboratory instruments on Earth could detect potential biosignatures or at least determine if Jezero ever had conditions to support life.