Reference News website, January 12 report: According to the Spanish website "ABC", the Mars Sample Return mission jointly conducted by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency has been forced to be canceled due to budget cuts. China's Mars sample return plan is expected to be implemented in 2031, making China possibly the first country to bring back samples from Mars.

The NASA Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission seems to have been called off due to cumbersome administrative procedures. This mission was supposed to be a pinnacle of Mars research, capable of answering many key questions about whether Mars was habitable in its ancient times. However, the U.S. Congress drastically cut the budget for this mission. Despite decades of research and continuous technological innovation, the core question of Mars' habitability remains unsolved.

The exploration work of the "Curiosity" and "Perseverance" rovers has greatly expanded and deepened human understanding of Mars, providing many compelling evidences that Mars once had a warm and humid period suitable for life. However, to further explore the mystery of life on Mars, it is necessary to bring back rock samples from Mars to Earth and conduct in-depth research using advanced equipment in modern laboratories.

NASA has long been aware of the numerous obstacles facing this mission. The estimated cost of the mission once soared to $11 billion, but after adjusting the mission architecture, the cost estimate was reduced to about $7 billion. However, these are still just estimates, as this is an unprecedented exploration mission, and there have always been many uncertainties regarding costs.

The core issue lies in funding. According to the report, NASA is under great pressure from budget cuts. Without financial support, it is impossible to maintain a leading position in the field of science. President Trump had previously demanded a significant increase in the U.S. military budget to $1.5 trillion, an increase of 50%. Such extravagant growth in military spending is difficult to separate from the budget cuts for NASA.

Political factors also cannot be ignored. NASA had originally planned to cooperate with the European Space Agency on this mission, but the current U.S. government has frequently issued threats against European countries and the EU, even threatening to use military force to seize Greenland. Under such circumstances, the cooperation between the two sides may have already completely collapsed, and the possibility of resuming cooperation in the future is very slim.

The Mars Sample Return mission may one day be restarted, and the European Space Agency may also proceed with the mission independently. Meanwhile, China has already formulated a Mars sample return plan and is expected to become the first country to retrieve samples from Mars.

China's Mars sample return mission is not as complex as the U.S.-Europe collaborative project. "Perseverance" aims to carefully select the collected samples, while China's mission is more focused on rapid collection and retrieval. For American scientists who have invested a lot of effort into this ambitious mission, the news of NASA's cancellation of the mission is undoubtedly a heavy blow. (Translated by Han Chao)

Original: toutiao.com/article/7594466987091264006/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.