Congress Pushes Back on Mars Cuts

House Panel Wants NASA to Plan Mars Sample Return
“If an NRC review of NASA’s mission concept concludes that it will not lead to a sample return, the bill directs the agency to spend the $150 million on developing a mission to orbit Europa, one of Jupiter’s icy moons. That would be in line with the priorities laid out in the NRC’s planetary science decadal survey, released in March 2011.”
Senate Bill Good News for NASA Mars Missions, Science
“It’s not clear yet if this restored funding–if the bill should become law–will in fact restore components of the 2016 and 2018 Mars missions that NASA had originally intended to undertake in collaboration with the European Space Agency.”