NASA is abandoning plans to acquire Mars rock using rovers and will switch to helicopters, similar to the one used during its Ingenuity mission.
The Mars Sample Return Program is a proposed mission to collect rock and dust samples on Mars and return them to Earth. This mission, which includes contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA), would allow for a more extensive analysis than the onboard sensors allow.
While it initially planned to use rovers to collect the sample, which have been more extensively tested, the Ingenuity helicopters were extensively tested on Mars last year as part of the Perseverance mission.
As of June 11, 2022, Ingenuity has completed 29 successful flights, repeatedly setting new records for speed and distance traveled in a single flight.
“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.”
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.
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 approximately one year, the program will complete technology development and create engineering prototypes of major mission components.
“ESA is continuing at full speed the development of 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.
Since landing in Jezero Crater in February last year, 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.
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