NASA will explore two different strategies for fetching Mars rocks collected by the Perseverance rover, and there's a chance these samples contain evidence of alien life.

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.

Dozens of samples of rock and sediment collected from Mars that could be used to detect ancient microbial life could be returned to Earth as soon as 2035 and as late as 2039, depending on the course of the next few months, NASA announced Tuesday.

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,

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

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