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.

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.

The agency has collected 30 samples on the red planet but the cost of getting them back had delayed the Mars Sample Return mission. It was initially estimated at $11 billion, with a 2040 return date: a price tag and timeline that administrator Bill Nelson explained was “simply unacceptable.

NASA is exploring new technology they hope will make it possible for them to collect a sample from Mars and bring it back to Earth.

NASA has unveiled two revamped plans to bring Mars samples to Earth in the 2030s, reducing costs by nearly half from its initial $11 billion proposal while expediting the timeline.