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NASA’s budget woes put ambitious space research at risk

The Mars Sample Return mission and other planetary science efforts are most affected by cost cutting

Mars rock with holes drilled in it by Perseverance

Using its drill, NASA’s Perseverance rover (lower left) collected material from a rock nicknamed Rochette in September 2021 as part of a plan to bring back samples to Earth. The agency’s recent budget woes have placed the sample return project in turmoil.

JPL-Caltech/NASA

By Adam Mann

Dreams of exploring the cosmos have crashed up against the harsh reality of budget cuts in the United States.