How will NASA conduct its Mars Sample Return (MSR) Program? This is what the renowned space agency recently discussed as it unveiled two potential landing options for MSR with the goal of determining a final option during the second half of 2026. This comes after NASA tasked a Mars Sample Return Strategic Review team to evaluate 11 proposals in September 2024 for returning samples from Mars to Earth while achieving cost-effectiveness while maximizing mission success.
Both options still call for loading the 30 sample tubes that have been collected and dropped across the Martian surface by NASA’s Perseverance rover during its trek on Mars. However, the Mars Ascent Vehicle, which will lift off from the Martian surface and deliver the samples to the orbiting capsule, will be smaller than previous designs. Additionally, past designs of the landed platform called for solar panels for energy, whereas new designs will incorporate a radioisotope power system for energy needs.
“Pursuing two potential paths forward will ensure that NASA is able to bring these samples back from Mars with significant cost and schedule saving compared to the previous plan,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. “These samples have the potential to change the way we understand Mars, our universe, and – ultimately – ourselves. I’d like to thank the team at NASA and the strategic review team, led by Dr. Maria Zuber, for their work.”
This comes after years of cost overruns and re-designs for MSR, but NASA still has the goal of returning samples to Earth sometime in the 2030s. Recently, the private company Rocket Lab proposed its own MSR mission concept that they claim will reduce costs while bringing back samples from Mars faster.
What final option will NASA select for MSR and what new discoveries will MSR teach us about Mars in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: NASA, NASA JPL, Rocket Lab
Featured Image Credit: NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech
