Nasa’s planned mission to retrieve rocks from Mars is in trouble – but it’s a vital step to sending humans to the red planet

Nasa recently asked the scientific community to help come up with innovative ideas for ways to carry out its Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. This was in response to a report by an independent board that deemed that its US$11 billion (£8.7 billion) price tag was too expensive and its 2040 timeline too far in the future.

In brief, the ambitious plan was to collect rock samples cached inside containers by Nasa’s Perseverance rover and deliver them to laboratories on Earth.