NASA's plans for Mars sample return are effectively cancelled as part of a bill approved by the U.S. Congress, ending efforts to collect Perseverance rover samples that could contain evidence of alien life.

"Today, we sent funding bills to the president's desk that reject the steep cuts he wanted and protect investments that families across America depend on every day."

On Monday, Congress made good on those promises, releasing a $24.4 billion budget plan for NASA as part of the conferencing process, when House and Senate lawmakers convene to hammer out a final budget. The result is a budget that calls for just a 1 percent cut in NASA’s science funding, to $7.25 billion, for fiscal year 2026.

A Congressional bill restores funding for most NASA space science missions, but there is no money for returning samples already collected on the red planet.

Moon dust is sharp, corrosive, and potentially fatal. NASA’s new electric force field shield is designed to blast it away.

After a tumultuous eight months, Congress has passed an appropriations bill fully funding NASA with a $24.4 billion budget, rejecting the cuts proposed by President Trump. The Senate passed a small bundle of appropriations bills known as a minibus on Thursday,

Advocates for space science research are concerned about job losses and cuts to funding at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.