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NASA’s Perseverance rover has been hard at work on Mars, collecting pieces of rock and boots on the Red Planet. But back on Earth, the space agency has been struggling to carry out its plan to recover the Martian exhibits. After months of deliberation, NASA has decided to pursue two alternative routes for its Mars Sample Return program, one of which involves the help of private industry.
During a media briefing on Tuesday, NASA announced an unusual approach to its ambitious Mars sampling mission. The space agency will simultaneously pursue two different ways to bring samples from other worlds to Earth. “Pursuing two potential paths forward will ensure that NASA is able to return these samples from Mars with significant cost and schedule savings compared to the previous plan,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. declaration.
In April 2024, NASA asked private industry to come up with alternative ways to collect Martian rock and dust from the Red Planet and drop them on Earth. The space agency requested proposals for a less complex mission architecture that would reduce cost and bring samples to Earth at an earlier date. Five months later, the agency received 11 studies from the NASA community and industry players, and a team was formed to evaluate the best way to return the samples.
At this point, NASA will proceed with “two distinct ways of landing the payload platform on Mars,” the space agency wrote. The first option will involve the tried and tested means of landing on Mars using a sky crane similar to those used by NASA’s rovers, while the other option will opt for a new method developed by a commercial partner.
Both routes involve a smaller version of the Mars Ascent Vehicle, a lightweight rocket designed to launch tubes containing samples from Mars into the planet’s orbit. Both missions also rely on the European Space Agency’s Earth Return Orbiter, which is designed to capture the sample container in orbit around Mars. The sample container contains 30 tubes.
“NASA’s rovers are enduring the harsh environment of Mars to collect innovative scientific samples,” Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement. “We want to bring them back as soon as possible to study in state-of-the-art facilities.”
NASA struggled with theirs Mars Sample Return Mission, which has recently come under scrutiny for cost overruns and schedule delays. In September 2023, an The Independent Review Board (IRB) issued a report on the mission, referring to it as a “very narrow and challenging campaign”, with “unrealistic budget and schedule expectations from the start”. The mission was initially limited to a budget of $7 billion to return the samples in the 2030s. It was later revealed, however, that Mars Sample Return needs a budget of $11 billion, with an estimate of returning the samples by 2040. In view of the report, NASA has started. considering an alternative architecture for its complex mission.
Despite its complexity, Mars Sample Return is an unprecedented opportunity to study samples from another nearby world. “Mars Sample Return will allow scientists to understand the geological history of the planet and the evolution of the climate on this barren planet where life may have existed in the past and shed light on the first solar system before life began here on Earth,” Fox said. “This will also prepare us to safely send the first human explorers to Mars.”
