NASA is abandoning plans to acquire rock on Mars using rovers and will instead switch to helicopters — similar to those used during its Ingenuity mission.
The Mars Sample Return Program is a proposed mission to collect samples of Martian rock and dust and return them to Earth. Such a mission, which includes input from the European Space Agency (ESA), would allow a more extensive analysis than that allowed by onboard sensors.
While they originally planned to use rovers to collect the sample, which are more thoroughly tested, the Ingenuity helicopters were tested extensively 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 the highest speed and distance traveled in a single flight.
“The conceptual design phase is when every aspect of the mission plan is put under the microscope,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“There are some significant and beneficial changes to the plan that 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 sample transport vehicle 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 arrive on Earth in 2033.
With its architecture solidified during this conceptual design phase, the program is expected to move into the preliminary design phase this October. In this phase, which is expected to last about a year, the program will complete technology development and create engineering prototypes of key mission components.
“ESA is continuing full speed ahead with development of both the Earth Return Orbiter, which will make the historic round trip from Earth to Mars and back, and the Sample Transfer Arm, which will robotically place the sample tubes aboard the orbital sample container prior to its launch from the surface of the Red Planet,” said David Parker, ESA’s Director of Human and Robotic Exploration.
Since landing in Jezero Crater last February, the Perseverance rover has collected 11 scientifically conclusive 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 would allow future generations to study them.
Curating the samples on Earth would also allow the scientific community to test new theories and models as they are developed, similar to what Apollo samples returned from the moon have done for decades.
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