NASA has completed the review of system requirements for its Mars sample return program, which is nearing completion of the conceptual design phase.
NASA has completed the review of system requirements for its Mars sample return program, which is nearing completion of the conceptual design phase. During this phase, the program team 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 Jezero Crater on the Red Planet.
The campaign architecture, 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 all facets of a mission plan are put under a microscope,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“There are some significant and beneficial changes to the plan, which can be directly attributed to Perseverance’s recent successes at Jezero and the amazing performance of our Mars helicopter,” he added.
This advanced mission architecture takes into account a recently updated analysis of Perseverance’s expected longevity. Perseverance will be the primary means of transporting samples to NASA’s Sample Retrieval Lander carrying the Mars Ascent Vehicle and ESA’s Sample Transfer Arm.
As such, 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 sample retrieval helicopters, based on the design of the Ingenuity helicopter, which has completed 29 flights to Mars and survived more than a year beyond its original intended life. The helicopters will provide a secondary capability to retrieve samples cached on the surface of Mars.
The ESA Earth Return Orbiter and its NASA-provided capture, containment and return system remain vital elements of the program architecture.
With planned launch dates for the Earth Return Orbiter and Sample Retrieval Lander in fall 2027 and summer 2028, respectively, the samples are expected to reach Earth in 2033.
With its architecture consolidated during this conceptual design phase, the program is expected to move into the preliminary design phase this October. In this phase, expected to last about 12 months, the program will complete technology development and create engineering prototypes of major mission components.
This refined concept for the Mars Sample Return campaign was presented in May to delegates from the 22 participating states of Europe’s space exploration program, Terrae Novae. At their next meeting in September, the states will consider stopping development of the Sample Fetch Rover.
“ESA is continuing full speed development on both the Earth Return Orbiter that will make the historic round trip from Earth to Mars and back; and the Sample Transfer Arm that will robotically place sample tubes in aboard the orbiting sample container prior to its launch from the Red Planet’s surface,” said David Parker, ESA’s Director of Human and Robotic Exploration.
Respective contributions to the campaign depend on available funding from participating US states and ESA. Next year, more formal agreements will be established between the two agencies.
“Working together on landmark efforts like Mars Sample Return not only provides invaluable data about our place in the universe, it brings us closer to ourselves right here on Earth,” Zurbuchen said.
The first step of the Mars sample return campaign is now underway. Since landing in Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021, the Perseverance rover has collected 11 scientifically compelling rock core samples and one atmospheric sample.
Bringing samples from Mars to Earth would allow scientists around the world to examine the specimens using sophisticated instruments too large and complex to send to Mars and allow future generations to study them.
Curating samples on Earth would also allow the scientific community to test new theories and models as they develop, just as Apollo samples returned from the Moon have done for decades. This strategic partnership between NASA and ESA will fulfill a goal of solar system exploration, a high priority since the 1970s and in the last three National Academy of Sciences Decennial Surveys of Planetary Science.