NASA sees two paths for saving its beleaguered plan to retrieve materials from the Red Planet but won’t choose between them until 2026

NASA has arrived at two ways of returning samples collected on Mars to Earth. Now, the agency will test the options to see if the cache can make it back in the 2030s.

NASA is pitching a cheaper and quicker way of getting rocks and soil back from Mars. Administrator Bill Nelson presented two options on Tuesday, less than two weeks before stepping down as NASA's chief.

NASA will analyze and explore two different landing options for its Mars Sample Return program, though it will take almost two years to do so and is expected to announce its decision in late 2026. The agency had to temporarily hit pause on the program after an independent review found that it could cost between $8 billion and $11 billion,

The agency is starting down two different paths toward the samples' return, but only one will bring the red rocks home.

NASA's Mars Sample Return mission is only in development and has already struggled. Now, the agency has laid out two paths forward.The Latest Tech News, Delivered to Your Inbox

The agency has collected 30 samples on the red planet but the cost of getting them back had delayed the Mars Sample Return mission. It was initially estimated at $11 billion, with a 2040 return date: a price tag and timeline that administrator Bill Nelson explained was “simply unacceptable.

To maximize chances of successfully bringing the first Martian rock and sediment samples to Earth for the benefit of humanity, NASA announced Tuesday a new approach to its Mars Sample Return Program.