NASA has unveiled two revamped plans to bring Mars samples to Earth in the 2030s, reducing costs by nearly half from its initial $11 billion proposal while expediting the timeline.

The agency is starting down two different paths toward the samples' return, but only one will bring the red rocks home.

NASA is pitching a cheaper and quicker way of getting rocks and soil back from Mars. Administrator Bill Nelson presented two options on Tuesday, less than two weeks before stepping down as NASA's chief.

NASA has alerted the public about two asteroids, 2024 YA10 and 2024 BM1, set to have close encounters with Earth this Wednesday. However, the space agency has reassured that these asteroids pose no threat to the planet's safety.

NASA's mission to return samples from Mars and potentially discover the first signs of alien life has a new timeline. The samples may arrive sooner.

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,

NASA's Mars Sample Return mission is only in development and has already struggled. Now, the agency has laid out two paths forward.The Latest Tech News, Delivered to Your Inbox

To maximize chances of successfully bringing the first Martian rock and sediment samples to Earth for the benefit of humanity, NASA announced Tuesday a new approach to its Mars Sample Return Program.

NASA has announced the next steps for its beleaguered Mars Sample Return mission, the ambitious plans to retrieve multiple samples collected on the Red Planet, so they can be analyzed by more sophisticated labs on Earth.