NASA has conducted tests of the first rockets to be launched from the surface of an alien planet. The rockets will be used as part of the Mars Ascension Vehicle (MAV), which will help return samples from Mars to Earth. Mars Sample Return will begin its two-year journey in June 2028, then wait for another year collecting samples brought by the Perseverance rover.
A Sample Transfer Arm will place samples in a container in the nose of a rocket that will launch from Mars and meet with the Earth Return Orbiter (you can guess its purpose from the name) to deliver the samples. If all goes as planned, the samples will return to Earth in the early 2030s.
Because normally used solid-power rocket nozzles cannot withstand the extreme cold environments experienced on Mars, these rockets use compressed ball nozzles developed by NASA. In addition, the team that tested the nozzle in a cold vacuum environment says the tests were successful.
“This test demonstrates that our nation has the capacity to develop a launch vehicle that is light enough to go to Mars and robust enough to orbit a number of samples to bring it back to Earth,” said Benjamin Davis, MAV Propulsion Manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. He added: “The hardware tells us that our technology is ready to make evolution a reality.”
Further testing will determine whether the nozzle can withstand the vibrations of takeoff, the vacuum of space and the cold it will encounter as it returns the Red Planet samples to Earth.
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