On January 7, NASA executives held a press conference on the fate of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. The organization is choosing between two project architectures: traditional or commercial spacecraft.
Problems with the Mars Sample Return mission
The MSR mission has been in development by NASA for several years. Its goal is to deliver capsules containing samples of Martian soil collected by the Perseverance rover to Earth. Project implementation was to begin in 2027 – 2028 with sample delivery in 2033.
However, the original plan crumbled under the burden of technical problems and cost overruns. An independent audit showed that the cost to implement MSR would be on the order of $11 billion, and the current project architecture is not viable within the NASA funding now available. In June 2024, the Aerospace Administration awarded contracts to Blue Origin and SpaceX to study concepts for a mission using commercial vehicles.
Two architectures
On January 7, NASA executives summarized the preliminary results. At the moment, the aerospace organization is considering two mission options — traditional and private.
The traditional option involves using the “sky crane” technology developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Its cost is estimated to be between $6.6 billion and $7.7 billion. The second option is to use a commercial descent vehicle. Its cost is estimated at 5.8 to 7.1 billion dollars.
NASA has not disclosed details about which commercial landing vehicles will be used in the second option. But it is known that both architectures involve a redesigned landing platform that will use a radioisotope power source instead of solar panels. This step is designed to reduce its mass and simplify the design. The sample loading system will also be redesigned to meet planetary defense criteria.
Consideration of the two options will continue until mid-2026, at which point a choice will be made in favor of one of them. If sufficient funding is available, sample delivery could take place by 2035. This means that it is very likely that the first Martian samples will be delivered to Earth by China, which intends to launch a mission as early as 2028.
However, current NASA administrator Bill Nelson was rather dismissive of the Chinese plan, calling it “grab and go.” According to him, it involves collecting samples only at the landing site, while NASA’s mission will bring to Earth a rich collection of samples collected by the Perseverance rover from various locations.
It’s also worth noting that after NASA’s press conference, Rocket Lab recalled its plan to deliver Martian soil. It assures that the cost of its realization will be only 4 billion dollars, and the samples will be returned to Earth as early as 2031.
According to Spacenews
