NASA and the European Space Agency have a very ambitious design to study Mars . The rovers and lander that have been send so far have been bully at studying the Red Planet , but they ca n’t liken to the capabilities we have in our science laboratory . So , the two outer space bureau are planning to compile bits of Mars and vanish them back to Earth . The scientific value of these sampling is tremendous and team are already at work trying to understand how to keep them secure without them getting contaminate .
While the mission is still being planned in detail , there is a portion that is already well underway . NASA ’s Perseverance has been collecting sample in special containers that will then be brought here to Earth . The roamer is equipped with43 sampling pipe , and despite aninitial sampling failure , it has been very successful in pull in samples , sate one of the canister with gas pedal from the atmosphere and ten others with especially interesting rocks or land .
The next phase of the military mission will be the launch of theSample Retrieval Lander , which is scheduled to launch in 2028 , for an arrival in 2029 . The delegacy plan originally saw a roamer rifle to pull in the samples from Perseverance , but turn over the sinful achiever ofIngenuity , two minuscule whirlybird will be sent to play as messenger . The flying vehicles will carry the containers to the Mars Ascension Vehicle ( MAV ) , which will take them to revolve , the first time something like this has been done .
“ We are really excited about launching a launching fomite from another planet . That ’s just a nerveless thing to be a part of and sort out , ” Brian Hinde , the Mars Sample Return program manager at Lockheed Martin , enjoin IFLScience . “ you may imagine all the first - time things that have to hap , all the difficulties . ”
There are a few things that will make it easier to set up from Mars than from our satellite . sombreness is just one - third of what we have here , and have an standard atmosphere of just one percent of the volume of Earth ’s will certainly aid . But rockets here launch from sturdy concrete floor , and there are none of those on Mars . The current idea is to cast the MAV a few meters up in the atmosphere and then ignite its engine to fly into space . It will then rendezvous with the Earth Return Orbiter , which will take them back to Earth for an arriver in 2033 .
Keeping It Safe Thanks To Those Who Came Before
While the Mars Return Sample mission would be a innovational technical and scientific achievement , it is not the first time that NASA or another agency has amass samples from elsewhere in the Solar System . Both Russia and China have mail sampling - call for probes to the Moon . Japan had the Hayabusa andHayabusa2 missionscollect samples of asteroid , and NASA has antecedently had a collection of solar wind corpuscle with Genesis and cometic material with Stardust , both of which bring down in the Utah Test and Training Range , where the Mars Sample Return mission will be deliver .
There is another missionary post that is playing a role in informing the Mars Return Sample mission : OSIRIS - REx . Next September 24 , a capsule with textile garner from asteroid Bennu will land back on Earth , once again at the Utah Test and Training Range .
The sampling is sealed in a canister , protecting it from possible Earthly contaminant as it comes in with a semi - soft landing place , using a parachute to be slow down down enough . Once on the ground , the capsule will be transported to a temporary blank room where it will be processed ; the heating shield and back cuticle will be polish off , and atomic number 7 will be used to remove oxygen and moisture from the sampling case shot , which will then be sent to Johnson Space Center .
“ That is where the science canister itself will be opened . It will be opened in a specialized clean room and inside a glovebox , ” Sandy Freund , the OSIRIS - male monarch mission operations manager for Lockheed Martin , told IFLScience . “ The first metre the sampling will be exposed will hap down at Houston . ”
The OSIRIS - REx team is now working on all the routine to make certain that the recovery of the space capsule is successful and that its wanted cargo can be kept safe until scientists can begin studying it . Freund has antecedently worked on the flight and plan team for each of NASA ’s sample distribution return missions , Genesis and Stardust .
“ Every time we bring samples home , we leverage the returns to date . I very much have a bun in the oven that that knowledge is going to get into the stream for our Sample Return in terms of what works , how did the logistics good cultivate out , what are the procedures for retrieval , how do we put safety in place , ” Hinde explain to IFLScience . “ I expect there will be much crossover and learn from the work that flaxen and her team are doing that will flow forward to the Mars Sample Return . ”
Not With A Whimper But With A Bang
While we are a decade too early for inside information , the containment procedure is expected to be fairly similar : taking the precious container filled by Perseverance to be opened in the safe of white rooms . One thing that is going to be unlike between the two commission is the return capsule design .
Given that the commission is very complicated , and tortuousness increase the chance of failure , the team has been focusing on simplify the return capsule . The samples will be protect , but the current program is to come in with a hard landing .
“ On our regaining fomite , we do n’t have avionics , we do n’t have control systems . In fact , the programme is not to parachute in but to just land . We are planning to hit the desert at about 90 miles an minute [ 144 kilometre per minute ] , ” Hinde explained .
Like with any other commission , things might change . A decade is a very long prison term in space missions , after all . disregarding of the details , the potential difference for discovery stay tremendous , so the will to get those sample distribution is there . Teams are just working out a direction .
“ We are become to learn so much because the sample distribution that Perseverance is accumulate , we recognize where they are from . And being able to put them in context will help us do thing like make model to date the long time of the surface of the volcanic crater , ” Dr Abigail Fraeman , the Deputy Project Scientist for Curiosity , told IFLScience when previously discussingthe Good Night Oppy infotainment .
“ It ’s run to give us a coup d’oeil to a period of sentence in the solar system that we have never seen and we are run to learn so many incredible things , even if we do n’t find life . ”
