Perseverance rover's Mars samples now won't make it to Earth until 2033 at best

Scientists will have to wait a little longer to get their hands on pristine Mars samples that might hold evidence of ancient Red Planet life.

NASA and the European Space Agency are working together to haul back to Earth several dozen Mars samples, which are being collected by NASA's Perseverance rover on the floor of the Jezero Crater. NASA officials have said that Jezero is a great place to do such work because billions of years ago it harbored a big lake and a river delta.

The plan called for the launch of a sample-return lander and a NASA Mars ascent vehicle in the year 2026. The fetch rover would pick up a container holding Perseverance's samples and bring them back to the MAV. In 2031, the sample container would be transferred to an ERO, which would bring the material back to Earth.

NASA's Perseverance Mars rovers have 8th rock sample on the Red Planet.

NASA announced today that the plan has changed a bit.

NASA officials wrote in a description of the agency's allocations in the White House that the analysis of SRL landed mass requirements led to the adoption of a dual-lander architecture. NASA will get $26 billion for the fiscal year that begins in October if Congress approves the request.

The Mars Sample Return Independent Review Board found that a dual-lander architecture may improve the probability of mission success, and that the development of a second lander necessitates a move to a 2028 launch date and 2033 sample return date.

According to the budget documents, the ERO launch has been delayed.

The budget request allocates $822 million to Mars sample return, an increase of $169 million over last year's request. NASA officials wrote in the budget document that the increase is not occurring in a vacuum and that it may impact the balance of the portfolio in the future.

NASA decided to delay the launch of its near-Earth object Surveyor mission by two years, and to stop funding the international Mars Ice Mapper mission, because of the extra money required for Mars sample-return.

Mike Wall is the author of Out There, a book about the search for alien life. You can follow him on social media. Follow us on social media.