INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
That NASA intends to collect a sample from Mars and return it to Earth is well known — they&ve said so many times
But how would they go about scooping up soil from the surface of a distant planet and getting it back here? With a plan that sounds straight
out of sci-fi.
Described by the project lead scientist in a virtual meeting reported by Nature, NASA and the European Space Agency proposed
Mars sample retrieval program is perhaps the most ambitious interplanetary mission ever devised
(I&ve asked NASA for more details and will update this post if I hear back.)
The first part of the plan is already public: It relies on the
Mars Perseverance rover, which is currently being prepared, despite the pandemic, for its launch in July
Perseverance will perform sampling using a drill and soil scoop, filling 30 small tubes with the results of its Martian delvings and storing
them on board.
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The next step is where things start
to get wild.
A second spacecraft will travel to Mars, launching in 2026 and arriving in 2028, and land near Perseverance in Jezero crater
It will deploy a second rover, which will roll over to Perseverance, collect the sample tubes, and deposit them in the &Mars ascent vehicle&
This small rocket will launch itself and the samples into orbit — the first time a spacecraft will have taken off from the surface of
Mars.
At this point, a third spacecraft waiting nearby will synchronize its orbit with the sample retrieval craft, collect it, and return to
Earth with it, where it will make its — controlled, one hopes — reentry in 2031.
&This is by no means a simple task,& said head of NASA
Mars exploration program Jim Watzin in the meeting, uttering perhaps the greatest understatement of the 21st century so far
&But we have kept it as simple as possible.&
Indeed, it is hard to think of a simpler process given the restrictions of travel to Mars
Naturally Perseverance can&t shoot the samples back on a ballistic trajectory itself for a variety of reasons
That necessitates a second surface vehicle
And engineering that vehicle to fill the roles of outbound spacecraft, lander, rover, ascent vehicle, and return spacecraft may simply be
So a third spacecraft is needed as well.
Keep in mind that this is the mission profile, but the actual spacecraft don&t exist yet, and
likely won&t for years to come
Still, it a mind-blowing plan that NASA has just revealed.
NASA Curiosity team is operating the Mars rover from home
