In an effort to simplify the architecture of the Mars sample return mission, NASA and ESA decided to dispense with the construction of one of the envisioned rovers and instead replace it with two mini-helicopters.
The decision makes the venture more doable – as well as helping to keep the budget under control – at a time when China is presenting plans to bring in samples from Mars two years ahead of the joint project of the American and European space agencies.
The collection of samples from Mars for return to Earth is already underway: the Perseverance rover, currently working in the Martian crater Jezero, has been placing small cores of rock extracted with a drill into small tubes for their future transport from there to here.
Originally, the plan would involve one more landing mission, carrying a rocket capable of taking off from the surface of Mars (to be provided by the Americans) and a rover to sample the Perseverance (to be manufactured by the Europeans). In March, it became clear that it would be impossible to put both in the same lander, which forced this stage to be split into two. Now, with the disposal of the European rover, the project once again has only one lander, which will take the rocket to the surface for the rise of Mars and two mini-helicopters, slightly larger than the Ingenuity – an experimental vehicle that operates in Mars since last year.
As for Perseverance, your work will double on the new architecture. In addition to collecting the samples, as he has been doing, it will be his task to take them to the ascension vehicle. The helicopters, equipped with small robotic arms to handle the tubes, will only serve as a back-up strategy in case the rover is prevented from completing the mission itself.
“Key to our new architecture is the recent determination of Perseverance’s reliability and lifespan based on its performance to date,” explained Jeff Gramling, director of NASA’s Mars Sample Return Program. “We are confident that the rover will be able to deliver the samples to the rescue module in 2030, when the need arises.”
The rest follows the original plan: once the capsule with the samples is placed in orbit around Mars, it will be captured by a European orbiter capable of bringing it back to Earth. The arrival is still expected in 2033.
Originally budgeted at something like $7 billion, the project was not re-priced in March, when the plan switched to using two new landers. Going back to being one, it is possible that this will bring the cost back to baseline – but even that is uncertain, as an independent review suggested that the original cost was understated by $1 billion. Opera summary: cheap will not be.
Meanwhile, the Chinese keep working to get there first, with an even simpler architecture, capable of bringing rocks from Mars in 2031.
This column is published on Mondays, in Folha Corrida.
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