NASA’s mission on Mars continues its course, but it is already beginning to think about one of its final phases, that of sending samples to Earth for study on our planet. The process that will be followed has already come to light as the last theoretical phase, it is most curious and it will be a milestone never seen before in the space race.
NASA has reached an agreement with the aerospace and military company Lockheed Martin, a multinational company of American origin, to build the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) . This vehicle will be key in the Mars Sample Return Program and will be the first robotic round trip to safely bring samples collected and stored by the Perseverance rover to Earth.
It will be a small, light rocket that will become the first to be launched from another planet and will operate in the early to mid-2030s.
“America’s investment in our Mars Sample Return Program will meet a top-priority planetary science goal and demonstrate our commitment to global partnerships, ensuring that NASA remains a leader in exploration and discovery,” Bill said. Nelson, NASA administrator.
How will the MAV send the samples to Earth?
The procedure will require a preliminary step that is expected to take place in 2026 at the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida. Then there will be a first launch of a sample recovery module that will land on the surface of Mars.
Collecting samples on Mars (Image: NASA)
This module would be in charge of transporting the MAV as close as possible to the Jezero Crater , located in the northern Martian hemisphere, the site of exploration of Mars by NASA’s Perserverance rover . Once there, the rock debris would be returned to the recovery module to secure the sample container, also being used as a launch pad for the MAV.
Once it reaches Mars orbit, the container would be captured and secured by a European Space Agency Earth Return Orbiter spacecraft equipped with NASA’s Capture, Containment and Return System.
The study of samples on Earth
Despite the sophistication of the system to be used, NASA and the European Space Agency have opted for sending the samples to Earth in search of greater effectiveness in their study. Using this method, the MAV will require two main characteristics: it must be robust enough to withstand the harsh environment of Mars and adaptable enough to work with multiple space vehicles.
The Perserverance rover collecting samples from Mars (Image: NASA).
The alternative could have been to send laboratories to the Red Planet for in situ study and collection of their results, something Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, ruled out, since it would be even more complex to send those laboratories: “Once on Earth, they can be studied with state-of-the-art tools that are too complex to be transported into space”.
The estimated cost of the entire operation has been calculated at around 170 million euros (194 million dollars).