Rocket Lab says NASA lacks leadership on Mars Sample Return
https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/12/rocket_lab_mars_sample/
Rocket Lab says NASA lacks leadership on Mars Sample Return
https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/12/rocket_lab_mars_sample/
4 Comments
They are also stalling to see what the budget outlook will be in the new administration that is rumored to be cutting science in half.
Looks like the first man on Mars is slipping more and more into science fiction..
Is leadership just another word for confidence or funding?
Rocket Lab just hasn’t brought anything unique to the MSR discussion. It’s hard to believe they can execute a JPL-like mission so much cheaper and faster than JPL without any of the facilities or experience that JPL has.
It makes sense that NASA prefers to explore commercial options that actually bring unique capabilities to the MSR team. If the Rocket Lab architecture is the right architecture, then we’ve already got an expert partner in JPL