NASA is considering sending a multi - bilion - dollar missionary work to return rocks from Mars in 2026 , in an attempt to well understand whether Mars did or still does host spirit .
If the missionary station goes forward , the sample of Mars soil weighing several kg could be render to Earth by 2029 . To date , no Martian stuff has ever been brought back to Earth by a man - made spacecraft .
The possible mission was unveil by Thomas Zurbuchen , NASA associate administrator for science , at a National Academies meeting on Monday .
" Depending on what ’s in these samples , we will think differently about nature and ourselves , " enjoin Zurbuchen , reportedThe Planetary Society . " Nature will always storm us . "
The first part of the charge is already in development . Provisionally called theMars 2020 rover , it will meet down on the Red Planet in other 2021 . Among its cat’s-paw the bird of passage will admit a drill , which will be used to collect sample and store them in caches on the control surface .
allot to Zurbuchen , the possible next step would then be to launch a smaller rover to Mars in October or November 2026 . It would come in August 2027 , owing to the specific 26 - monthlaunch windowsthat occur when our two planet align .
This rover would pick up the samples and rescue them to a Mars Ascent Vehicle ( MAV ) , which would launch into orbit and rendezvous with another ballistic capsule . Presuming it would launch in the Mars - Earth launch window , September 2028 , it would get in back at Earth between June and September 2029 .
The heavy issue at the moment concerning this mission is how to take off from Mars . While it might have await easy inThe Martian , the logistics behind it are anything but . The gravity of Mars is just a third that on Earth but it isstill significant , so working out how to overcome it will be wily . It may require piss fuel on the airfoil of Mars itself .
“ [ This commission ] move straight for what I would regard the jugular effect , which is how to land and take off the satellite , ” said Zurbuchen , reportedSpaceNews .
No doubt the elephant in the room at the moment is SpaceX. Elon Musk exact his caller can sendhumans to Marsin the late 2020s , which would make NASA ’s sample return mission look like child ’s sport . Many doubt he can in reality do it , though , and NASA ’s timeline – which include get humans to Mars in the 2030s – may be more naturalistic .
