Thread

NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission is dead

456 points · 391 comments · Muhammad523

Imnimo · 1790020180 · focus · HN ↗
I never really understood why you'd have Perseverance drill the cores and then just leave them on the ground for an underdefined future mission to retrieve.
1. q_andrew · 1790020273 · focus · HN ↗
  Because the powers that be would have deemed a real plan as too expensive.
  1. petcat · 1790021077 · focus · HN ↗
    > would have deemed a real plan as too expensive
    Who are these "powers that be"? And do they have an infinite credit card? Could they really just do whatever they want and for some reason they choose not to?
    q_andrew · 1790022048 · focus · HN ↗
    The powers that be are the US federal government. Their credit card is extremely large, but that money is going towards wars and weapons.
    astrange · 1790033371 · focus · HN ↗
    Mostly towards social insurance for old people.

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