NASA Plan to Shoot and Ship Samples of the Red Planet on Hold
![NASA Plan to Shoot and Ship Samples of the Red Planet on Hold](https://media2.spaceref.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/26122737/PHOTO-2-sample-preservance.jpg)
NASA Perseverance rover is now on Mars and busily collecting samples, storing the specimens in tubes, then depositing those tubes on the surface for later pick-up.
Image credit: NASA.
NASA’s mega-project of scooping up and transferring specimens of Mars to our planet is under intense scrutiny and has been put on pause.
The plan, which never looked easy, called for a NASA-built Sample Return Lander (SRL) housing a Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) and a robotic arm provided by the European Space Agency.