Mars Sample Return Proposal Stirs Excitement, Controversy

PASADENA, Calif. -- Proposals for a multibillion dollar Mars sample return mission - perhaps even a comprehensive sample return program - appear to be on the front burner again, but not without controversy.

It turns out, Alan Stern, NASA's new associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, is a big proponent of Mars sample return. But while many NASA planetary scientists share that sentiment, a number of others also worry that such an ambitious mission - Stern estimates it could cost from $3 billion to $4 billion - would suck up all the available money for most other Mars missions in the next decade and disrupt NASA's ability to send at least one robotic mission to Mars every two years

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