Later that year, the Curiosity team shared their initial, exciting science results at the December meeting of the American Geophysical Union. At the same meeting, the associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate John Grunsfeld used the opportunity to announce Mars 2020, a flagship-class rover that would take the first step in returning samples from Mars to Earth.

That announcement, in 2012, was the last time NASA committed to a new Mars mission.

InSight's landing provides a rare opportunity for NASA: a Mars success has briefly captured popular and political attention. Stunning pictures of a new Martian landscape have made it to the pages of major news outlets. Millions of people watched its landing around the world. And in perhaps their first time agreeing on anything, President Trump and the New York Times Editorial Board both sang InSight's praises.

As the President's budget proposal for fiscal year 2020 is being finalized, now is the time for NASA to secure a new commitment for the next step at the Red Planet: Mars sample return.

Recall that InSight is a "small" planetary mission compared to the technical and scientific challenges of Mars Sample Return. No other nation has yet achieved a successful landing on Mars, much less attempted to return samples. A clear political commitment now would send an unmistakable signal that the United States intends to continue its leadership at Mars.

Why now? Simple:

InSight's Landing Was a Reminder of the Popularity of Exploring Mars

More than 3.6 million people watched the landing on JPL's YouTube stream alone, with millions more following around the world, including the Vice President. President Trump highlighted the landing at a rally later that night. The New York Times used the opportunity to make the case for planetary exploration in its Editorial section.

Mars Sample Return Is a High Priority of the Scientific Community

The current National Academies decadal survey report on planetary science—the gold standard for scientific consensus in space sciences—declared that: "the highest priority missions for Mars in the coming decade are the elements of the Mars sample return campaign." It recommended that NASA pursue the first step of such a campaign as the highest priority flagship mission in this decade. Mars 2020 is that first step. The rover will launch in 2020 and will begin collecting samples for Earth return in 2021. Now that the first step is happening, the second must be taken.

Mars Sample Return Is Ready To Go