NASA hopes a revised plan will get Mars samples back to Earth faster and cost less than the agency's original plan.

NASA announced Tuesday it had narrowed down to two options the reworked Mars Sample Return mission aiming for a cheaper and quicker completion than the version that had been killed last year.

NASA will analyze and explore two different landing options for its Mars Sample Return program, though it will take almost two years to do so and is expected to announce its decision in late 2026. The agency had to temporarily hit pause on the program after an independent review found that it could cost between $8 billion and $11 billion,

Anyone hoping for a clear path forward this year for NASA’s imperiled Mars Sample Return mission will have to wait a little longer. The agency has settled on two potential strategies for the first effort to bring rock and soil from another planet back to Earth for study,

NASA said in its announcement it is changing the plan for the spacecraft that will land on Mars to retrieve the samples and exploring two new, different options. One of the option

NASA has arrived at two ways of returning samples collected on Mars to Earth. Now, the agency will test the options to see if the cache can make it back in the 2030s.

NASA is considering two ways to get its precious Mars samples back to Earth but won't pick a winner for another 18 months or so.