Prize: NASA could offer a prize—say $3 billion to the first company and $1 billion to a second company—for delivering something like 1 kg of Mars rocks and soil back to Earth. NASA has used prizes very sparingly in the past, but this option could appeal to the Trump administration as it would require very little funding up front.

NASA's Mars rover Perseverance uncovered rocks in a dry river channel that may hold potential signs of ancient microscopic life, scientists reported Wednesday.

Sean Duffy, acting NASA Administrator, calling this “the closest we have ever come to discovering life on Mars” in an agency news release.