NASA is making a big announcement about Mars TODAY - here's what we expect to ... trends now

NASA is preparing to make a big announcement today that could reveal the future of America's next mission to Mars. 

The Mars Return Sample (MRS) aims to bring Martian soil back to Earth, but the progress of the mission has been uncertain since a damning report last year criticised the 'unrealistic budget'.

However, the announcement today has sparked hopes that NASA might reveal the timeline and budget for the next stage of this challenging scientific mission. 

Excitingly, NASA says that the samples could finally help to answer one of the biggest remaining questions in space exploration - whether or not there is life beyond Earth. 

NASA said: 'The return of the samples will also help NASA's search for signs of ancient life.' 

At 18:00 BST (13:00 EDT), the American space agency will host a media teleconference on the MRS mission.

You can follow MailOnline's coverage for all the updates as they happen, or watch the announcement live on NASA TV Live.

The MRS mission began in February 2021 when NASA's Perseverance rover landed on the Martian surface.

Since then, Perseverance has travelled alongside the Ingenuity Mars helicopter around the Jezero Crater, collecting rock samples.

The original plan was that NASA would send a secondary lander to collect the samples from Ingenuity and bring these back to Earth for analysis.

These samples are believed to be of extremely high scientific value and could help scientists uncover what Mars' weather and climate would have been like in the distant past.  

NASA said: 'NASA’s Perseverance rover is collecting compelling science samples that will help scientists understand the geological history of Mars, the evolution of its climate, and prepare for future human explorers.