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 is pitching a cheaper and quicker way of getting rocks and soil back from Mars. Administrator Bill Nelson presented two options on Tuesday, less than two weeks before stepping down as NASA's chief.

NASA will investigate two new approaches to bring its Mars samples to Earth through a mission proposal that is less expensive and technically complicated. The space agency will flesh out options that could either involve using a commercial lander,