NASA has chosen Lockheed Martin Space as the developer of the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) to bring samples collected by Perseverance from the Martian surface to our planet. Within the scope of the Mars Sample Return Program, the first robotic round-trip journey will be carried out to bring samples safely to Earth.
Mars samples will be brought to earth
MAV, which will be a light and small rocket, will provide important information for manned journeys with the samples it brings. The Mars Sample Return Program will be carried out jointly by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). NASA will carry the MAV to the surface of Mars with a spacecraft called the Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL).
The SLR will land the MAV near or inside Jezero Crater, where the Perseverance vehicle was landed and collected samples in February last year. Then, the samples collected by Perseverance will be loaded onto the MAV and the MAV will meet with the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO) vehicle developed under the leadership of ESA, which will bring the samples to our planet in Mars orbit.
Under this contract worth approximately $194 million, Lockheed Martin will deliver multiple MAV test units and one flight unit to NASA. The MAV needs to be able to withstand the harsh conditions of Mars and be adaptable enough to operate with multiple spacecraft. It is thought that this may create some difficulties during the development phase.
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if all goes well NASA) plans to launch SRL before 2026. Also, samples collected from the Martian surface are expected to be brought to our planet in the early or mid-2030s.
About the significance of this mission in NASA’s blog post: “This strategic NASA and ESA partnership will be the first mission to return samples from another planet and the first launch from the surface of another planet. Collected by Perseverance during the exploration of an ancient river delta “The samples are thought to offer the best opportunity to reveal the early evolution of Mars, including the potential for life.” statements were included.
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