NASA will inspire the world when it returns samples of Mars to Earth in 2033
This illustration shows the concept of several robots working together to transport rock and soil samples to Earth collected from the surface of Mars by NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA has completed a system requirements review for the Mars Sample Return Program, which is close to completing the conceptual design phase. During this phase, the program team has evaluated and refined the architecture to return scientifically selected samples, which are currently in the process of being collected by NASA’s Perseverance rover in the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater.
The architecture for the campaign, which includes contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA), is expected to reduce the complexity of future missions and increase the likelihood of success.
“The conceptual design phase is when every aspect of the mission plan is put under the microscope,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “There have been several significant and favorable changes to the plan, which can be directly attributed to Perseverance’s recent success at Jezero and the outstanding performance of our Mars helicopter.”
This advanced mission architecture takes into account a recently updated analysis of the expected longevity of Perseverance. Perseverance will be the primary means of transporting samples to the NASA Sampling Lander carrying the Mars Ascent Vehicle and ESA’s Sample Transfer Arm.
Accordingly, the Mars Sample Return campaign will no longer include the Sample Fetch Rover or its associated second lander. The Sample Retrieval Lander will include two recovery helicopter samples, based on the Ingenuity helicopter design, which have made 29 flights on Mars and survived more than a year beyond their originally planned service life. The helicopter will provide a secondary capability to retrieve samples stored on the Martian surface.
ESA’s Earth Return Orbiter and NASA-provided Capture, Containment, and Return System remain important elements of the program’s architecture.
With planned launch dates for the Earth Return Orbiter and Sample Retrieval Lander in fall 2027 and summer 2028, respectively, samples are expected to arrive on Earth in 2033.
With the architecture solidified during this conceptual design phase, the program is expected to move into the design phase early this October. In this phase, expected to last approximately 12 months, the program will complete technology development and create engineering prototypes of the main mission components.
This refined concept for the Mars Sample Return campaign was presented to delegates from 22 countries participating in the European space exploration program, Terrae Novae, in May. At its next meeting in September, the state will consider halting development of the Sample Fetch Rover.
“ESA is continuing at full speed development of the Earth Return Orbiter which will make a historic round trip from Earth to Mars and back again; and the Sample Transfer Arm which will robotically place sample tubes on top of the Orbiting Sample Container prior to launch from the surface of the Red Planet. ,” said David Parker, ESA’s director of Human and Robotic Exploration.
Individual contributions to the campaign depend on available funding from participating US states and ESAs. A more formal agreement between the two institutions will be drawn up next year.
“Working together on historic endeavors like Mars Sample Return not only provides valuable data about our place in the universe, but also brings us closer together here on Earth,” Zurbuchen said.
The first steps in the Mars Sample Return Campaign are already underway. Since landing on Jezero Crater February 18, 2021, the Perseverance rover has collected 11 scientifically interesting rock core samples and one atmospheric sample.
Bringing Martian samples to Earth will allow scientists around the world to examine specimens using sophisticated instruments that are too large and too complex to be sent to Mars and will allow future generations to study them. Curating samples on Earth will also allow the science community to test new theories and models as they develop, just as Apollo samples returned from the moon for decades. This strategic partnership between NASA and ESA will meet the goals of solar system exploration, a high priority since the 1970s and in the last three National Academy of Sciences Planetary Science Decadal Surveys.
NASA’s Perseverance Explorer stakes out the Mars Sample Return Campaign’s landing site
Learn more about the Mars Sampling Program at mars.nasa.gov/msr/
Provided by Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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