Hmmm, space travel isn't the easiest undertaking. NASA has told us that its plans for the Mars Sample Return Mission have changed. The original plan was to work with ESA to collect samples from Perseverance and return them to Earth by 2031. Unfortunately, as with many things, costs increased and timelines shortened, and given budget problems, NASA had to revise its plan. Administrator Bill Nelson has now presented a simpler, cheaper and lower-risk alternative.
The Mars Perseverance Rover left Earth on July 30, 2020 as part of the Mars 2020 mission. It's not easy to get around the corner to get to the Red Planet, and so it arrived almost seven months later, on July 18 . February 2021. Among its many tasks was: Collect rock samples, pack them into tubes, and place them ready to be collected and returned to Earth by another future mission. The samples will be analyzed in laboratories on Earth to help us understand the formation of the solar system, search for signs of ancient life on Mars, and enable future human exploration. So far so good, but face NASA's budget challenges.
Illustration of Perseverance on Mars
In response to these budget challenges and to an independent review of the Mars Sample Return mission, NASA had to get creative. The mission design was updated to allow for a simpler, less risky approach and lower cost. The deadlines for returning samples have also now been postponed to the return of samples by 2040, instead of the previous nine years.
The NASA team has no illusions about the complexity of the task at hand. A safe landing on Mars is just the beginning. The samples must be collected and safely stowed, then the rocket must lift off from Mars and return safely to Earth! This has never been possible without human intervention – think Apollo with astronauts bringing back several kilograms of lunar samples for analysis.
At the time of writing, NASA did not yet have a way to reduce costs, but remained confident that it would. NASA asked several teams to work together to develop a plan that takes an innovative approach using proven technology where possible. They are expected to work with other industries on proposals to find ways for the mission to meet cost challenges, with less complexity and by delaying sample delivery to the 2030s.
Nicky Fox, NASA's deputy administrator from Washington, said: “NASA is conducting visionary science – and returning diverse, scientifically relevant samples from Mars is a top priority.” Obviously, it's a challenge, not just in terms of the logistics of the mission itself, but It is not an easy task to implement, even given the constraints the team faces. One thing NASA has on its side is its can-do attitude. It is an organization that continually impresses with ingenious solutions. I have no doubt that the samples will be returned to Earth for interplanetary exploration for the first time by the end of 2039.
Source: NASA charts path for Mars sample return, looks for innovative designs
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