MSR

• We recorded a credit loss provision of $3.0 million during the quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to $2.7 million in the linked quarter.
• Nonperforming LHFI increased $10.3 million for the quarter, and nonperforming LHFI to LHFI increased over the past quarter to 0.51% compared to 0.39% for the linked quarter.
• Noninterest income for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, was $17.3 million, an increase of $9.1 million, or 110.5%, from the linked quarter.
• Origin will hold a conference call to discuss its first quarter 2024 results on Thursday, April 25, 2024, at 8:00 a.m. Central Time (9:00 a.m. Eastern Time).

• FirstSun Capital Bancorp (“FirstSun”) (OTCQX: FSUN) reported net income of $12.3 million for the first quarter of 2024 compared to net income of $26.3 million for the first quarter of 2023.
• The return on average total assets was 0.64% in the first quarter of 2024, compared to 1.26% in the prior quarter, and the return on average stockholders’ equity was 5.15% in the first quarter of 2024, compared to 11.19% in the prior quarter.
• Average loans, including loans held-for-sale, increased by $33.5 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared to the prior quarter.
• Loan yield decreased by three basis points to 6.48% in the first quarter of 2024, compared to the prior quarter.

• Premier Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: PFC) (“Premier” or the “Company”) announced today 2024 first quarter results.
• “Premier’s overall financial performance for the first quarter was generally in line with our expectations,” said Gary Small, President and CEO of Premier.
• Compensation and benefits were $23.4 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared to $21.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 and $25.7 million in the first quarter of 2023.
• The efficiency ratio for the first quarter of 2024 was 64.2% compared to 59.5% in the fourth quarter of 2023 and 60.9% in the first quarter of 2023.

• This has led to some anxiety among space scientists, who view the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission as a cornerstone of plans to explore the Solar System.
• But when you consider what’s at stake, scientifically and politically, it seems highly likely that Nasa will push ahead with the mission to make it a success.
• One key conclusion of the Nasa review is that MSR was established with unrealistic budget and schedules.
• Esa is also unlikely to want to lose the scientific investment it has already made in MSR.

Huge scientific importance

So why does the space science community regard MSR as so important? Partly because the technologies are a stepping stone to future human exploration. For instance, the mission needs an ascent vehicle to launch the samples into orbit for capture by another spacecraft.

• That capture in Mars orbit of a football-sized return capsule is one of the key technical challenges of MSR.
• Esa is taking a major part in this and leads the return orbiter development.
• This stage will deploy the very best equipment that we scientists have in laboratories across the world.
• But these financial savings come with a scientific cost.

Chinese rivalry

• The Apollo programme was given impetus by cold war rivalry with the Soviet Union.
• The Chinese Space Agency wants to launch in 2028, with separate lander and ascent vehicle launches.
• In 2020, I argued that an era of new Chinese collaboration with the west could be possible.

John Bridges receives funding from the UK Space Agency for NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return planning groups tasked with identifying the best techniques to analyse returned samples, and the closest terrestrial analogues for these samples.