Mars samples collected by NASA prepared for Earth return, uncertain about retrieval method
NASA is seeking new plans to expedite and reduce the cost of its Mars Sample Return mission, a multi-phase project aimed at bringing Martian rock and soil samples back to Earth. The current proposed return date in 2040 and the $11 billion budget have been deemed too far away and too expensive, respectively, by NASA officials.
According to NASA's associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, Nicky Fox, organising a mission of this complexity requires decades of lessons on how to run large missions. The first phase of this endeavour is already underway, with the Perseverance rover currently on Mars, collecting and caching samples.
The plan is to follow up with two more missions: a NASA-led rover and ascent vehicle to collect the samples and launch them into orbit; and a spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency to capture and return them to Earth. However, an independent report in 2023 found that the overall project cost to NASA would be an estimated $11 billion, leading to concerns about cost overruns and delays.
In response, NASA is soliciting input from all NASA centres and partners in the wider space industry for these new plans. Suggestions include using proven technologies, reducing the need for extensive testing, and using a smaller ascent vehicle. NASA has also been called upon by various institutions and companies, including SpaceX, to submit proposals for new concepts to enable faster and cheaper return of Mars samples, working together with NASA centres such as the Glenn Research Center and Marshall Space Flight Center.
The goal is to bring this transformational mission forward and deliver revolutionary science from Mars, providing critical new insights into the origins and evolution of Mars, our Solar System, and life on Earth. Having a piece of Mars to study with a suite of instruments on Earth could enable scientists to learn much more about the Red Planet's history, and whether it could ever have supported life.
NASA administrator Bill Nelson has stated a commitment to retrieving the Mars samples, and the agency is also working towards landing humans on Mars in the 2040s. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov.
