NASA has arrived at two ways of returning samples collected on Mars to Earth. Now, the agency will test the options to see if the cache can make it back in the 2030s.

NASA has revealed two new strategies to bring back rock and dust samples from Mars collected by Perseverance rover. The aim is to return these samples by the 2030s. The plans involve using either the previous sky crane technology or commercial heavy-lift vehicle landers.

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

NASA is exploring two potential strategies to bring Mars samples back to Earth, aiming to simplify and reduce the cost of the mission.

NASA hopes a revised plan will get Mars samples back to Earth faster and cost less than the agency's original plan.

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,

Anyone hoping for a clear path forward this year for NASA’s imperiled Mars Sample Return mission will have to wait a little longer. The agency has settled on two potential strategies for the first effort to bring rock and soil from another planet back to Earth for study,

NASA said in its announcement it is changing the plan for the spacecraft that will land on Mars to retrieve the samples and exploring two new, different options. One of the option

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