Issued on: 27/07/2022 – 23:54
Washington (AFP) – NASA plans to return 30 Martian rock samples back to Earth in 2033, the agency said Wednesday – and is sending two small helicopters to help the mission.
The Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in February 2021, has so far collected 11 samples as part of its search for traces of ancient life.
But returning them for detailed laboratory study on Earth turns out to be an extremely difficult task.
Until now, NASA had planned to send another rover to Mars to retrieve the samples from Perseverance, then carry them to a robotic lander equipped with its own rocket, called the Mars Ascent Vehicle.
This, in turn, will launch the samples into orbit, where they will be collected by a European spacecraft.
Now, however, the second “Sample Fetch Rover” has been scrapped, and Perseverance itself will deliver the precious cargo directly to the lander, which will use a robotic arm to retrieve it.
But since NASA always plans for contingencies, it has a backup plan in case Perseverance is immobilized.
The lander, due to lift off from Earth in 2028 and land on Mars in the mid-2030s, will also carry two mini-helicopters.
Perseverance brought with it its own helicopter called Ingenuity, which made the first powered flight on another world and has already made a total of 29 flights.
The two new helicopters will be slightly heavier, equipped with wheels so they can also move on the ground, and will come with a small arm that allows them to recover samples.
In this scenario, Perseverance would first drop the samples to the ground, the helicopters would pick them up, then place them next to the ascent vehicle.
The orbiter is due to return to Earth in the Utah desert in 2033.
© 2022 AFP
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