Thread

NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission is dead

456 points · 391 comments · Muhammad523

peri-cl · 1790019864 · focus · HN ↗
This article only obliquely mentions in the last paragraphs, but there's a parallel Chinese program that recently brought back samples from the moon, and will attempt Mars sample return, launching in 2028,
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tianwen-3" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tianwen-3
1. notabee · 1790020232 · focus · HN ↗
  Anyone wanting to be involved in the future of scientific research should probably start learning Mandarin. We're going the way of the Soviets, where political officers will quash any science that doesn't fit their ideology. <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/trump-planning-to-hand-veto-power-over-nih-grants-to-political-appointee/" rel="nofollow">https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/trump-planning-to-ha...
  1. gamblor956 · 1790022176 · focus · HN ↗
    where political officers will quash any science that doesn't fit their ideology
    China also does this. We just don't hear about it because they also quash the reporting.
    anramon · 1790033256 · focus · HN ↗
    China is labeled an authoritarian regime while the US is labeled a liberal democracy, are you saying the behavioural standard for a liberal democracy is the behaviour of an authoritarian regime?
    TitaRusell · 1790065726 · focus · HN ↗
    The US has a lot of rights on paper but in practice the country is run by religious nut jobs and billionaire sociopaths.
    Unfortunately all across the West we see a new desire for fascism over individualism and liberty.
    MentalM · 1790089727 · focus · HN ↗
    Oh, no! How did it happen that a country founded by religious fanatics and capitalism supporters (and who literally killed almost all natives) is run by religious nut jobs and billionaire sociopaths?

Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.