NASA’s inspector general issued a significant list Wednesday of items that need to be resolved before the next mission to Mars can be launched in November. Some say the challenges won’t be resolved in time, causing the Mars team to miss their launch window. That’s a problem because the next window for sending a craft to Mars isn’t for two years — and the cost of rejiggering the program to fit that window might be too high for NASA to stomach. NPR’s Joe Palca talks to Michele Norris.

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