NASA seeks new ideas for Mars missionsApril 13th, 2012 in Space
& Earth / Space Exploration This artist concept shows NASA's
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, a mobile robot for
investigating Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial
life. The US space agency said Friday it is seeking fresh ideas
for robotic missions to explore Mars, after budget cuts nixed a
planned partnership with the European space agency. The US space
agency said Friday it is seeking fresh ideas for robotic
missions to explore Mars, after budget cuts nixed a planned
partnership with the European space agency. "NASA is
reformulating the Mars Exploration Program to be responsive to
high-priority science goals and the president's challenge of
sending humans to Mars in the 2030s," the agency said. A Mars
Program Planning Group has started to sift through potential
options for future missions, which could involve sending an
orbiter around the red planet or a robotic rover to land by
2018, two years later than planned as part o