The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of Inspector General, the aeronautics and space agency’s regulator, has found that the Mars Sample Return (MSR) program to return soil samples from Mars is facing serious difficulties in phase one. . There are three spacecraft in development for the MSR program, and all are far from complete.

First of all, implementation of the MSR program requires a spacecraft capable of reaching Mars orbit and then returning to Earth with soil samples. A landing site is also needed to land on the surface of the Red Planet and collect sample containers prepared by the Perseverance rover. Additionally, a module is needed to deliver samples from the Martian surface to an orbiter for delivery to Earth. None of these modules are ready yet.

An audit by the Office of Inspector General found that the MSR program “The development phase – the creation of a stable project with realistic cost and time estimates – faces serious obstacles to timely and effective completion.”.

The development phase is at least seven months behind previously set deadlines, mainly due to known technical difficulties. These and other problems led to the mission’s budget increasing from an initial $2.5 billion to $7.4 billion. “He questions the possibility of the program being implemented” financially.

Initially, NASA believed that cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) would facilitate the implementation of the program to deliver soil samples from Mars to Earth. But in reality it turned out that everything was not quite like that. Inspection of two aviation agencies “We face challenges with program transparency, asynchronous design progress, and burden sharing that clearly arise from differences in agency operational approaches, procurement strategies, and funding mechanisms.”.

The challenges will become even more apparent this month as NASA approaches Key Decision Point C, where it will evaluate the feasibility of moving from the design brief to the development and production of specific elements needed to implement MSR. The Office of Inspector General is unsure whether the agency should proceed with the project because it likely would not be possible for the agency to formulate an accurate budget at this time. Even if the budget is accurately calculated, auditors suggest it could be so large that it would negatively impact other NASA projects.

“To maximize the potential for success of the MSR while minimizing the risk of adverse impacts beyond the MSR program, it is critical that NASA evaluate the program as a comprehensive plan that includes a variety of mission scenarios and takes into account the interests of stakeholders.”– says the recommendations of the auditors.

NASA’s management is generally consistent with the Office of Inspector General’s findings. With “Keypoint C” scheduled to be crossed as early as this month, the agency’s plans to move soil from Mars to Earth could change or be canceled altogether.