WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the European Space Agency need up to $1 billion more in their budgets and two extra years to land an unmanned mission on Mars and bring Martian soil back to Earth for analysis, an independent US panel said on Tuesday.
IRB chairman David Thompson, former head of Orbital ATK, told a press conference on Tuesday that NASA and the ESA needed a budget of between $3.8 billion and $4.4 billion to carry out the mission – almost 50 percent higher than the previously accepted figure – and that it should be delayed for up to two years from 2026 to 2028.
Under the ambitious plans for the joint NASA-ESA mission, three separate missions would be required to be sent to Mars, the first of which, carrying the Perseverance Rover ground vehicle, has just passed the halfway mark in its voyage to the Red Planet.
Earlier this year, scientists claimed to have analyzed the minimum number of settlers required for a colony on Mars to be able to survive between supply deliveries. The approximate number is 110.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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