Bringing Mars rocks to Earth should be NASA’s top priority, says panel
MAR 10, 2011
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.025121
New Scientist : Earlier this week, a panel convened by the National Academy of Sciences issued its latest Planetary Science Decadal Survey , which lists in order of scientific priority the missions that NASA should undertake in the decade 2013–22. The top slot went to the Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher (MAX-C), which seeks to land on the Martian surface and return to Earth with rock samples. The Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO), which would survey Jupiter’s icy moon, came in second, followed by the Uranus Orbiter and Probe. Each of the top three missions is expected to cost several billion dollars. If NASA can’t find the money, the panel recommends that some missions be delayed or replaced with cheaper ones.
© 2011 American Institute of Physics
