Winston
Lorenzo von Matterhorn
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Mars sample return campaign planning
https://phys.org/news/2019-06-mars-earth.html
A series of missions currently being planned will set a new bar for humankind's technological achievements as NASA and ESA aim to bring back samples from the Martian surface.
The campaign foresees three launches from Earth and one from Mars, two Martian rovers and an autonomous rendezvous and docking in Mars orbit—over 50 million km away from ground control.
The Mars sample return campaign is aiming to bring Martian material back from Jezero crater that once held a lake and contains an ancient preserved river delta. The rocks in the area will have preserved information about Mars' long and diverse geologic history.
Sampling Mars will allow humankind to dramatically expand our knowledge of our neighboring planet, its geology and climate history.
With engineers in Europe and the U.S. up for the challenge, scientists are eager to receive the first samples from another planet and have already started investigating and preparing how they will analyze the precious, rocks, dust and gas once the samples are returned to Earth.
On arrival the samples will go into quarantine much like the lunar rocks that returned to Earth on the Apollo and Luna Moon missions. International planetary protection guidelines are being revised in preparation for Martian samples, and getting an update to incorporate more modern technology.
Quarantine will be inside a Sample Receiving Facility, where the samples will already offer a treasure trove of information for scientists even before they are opened. Any Martian dust that might cover the outside of the sample tubes can be analyzed and non-invasive techniques such as X-ray investigations can be run, even on unopened tubes.
https://phys.org/news/2019-06-mars-earth.html
A series of missions currently being planned will set a new bar for humankind's technological achievements as NASA and ESA aim to bring back samples from the Martian surface.
The campaign foresees three launches from Earth and one from Mars, two Martian rovers and an autonomous rendezvous and docking in Mars orbit—over 50 million km away from ground control.
The Mars sample return campaign is aiming to bring Martian material back from Jezero crater that once held a lake and contains an ancient preserved river delta. The rocks in the area will have preserved information about Mars' long and diverse geologic history.
Sampling Mars will allow humankind to dramatically expand our knowledge of our neighboring planet, its geology and climate history.
With engineers in Europe and the U.S. up for the challenge, scientists are eager to receive the first samples from another planet and have already started investigating and preparing how they will analyze the precious, rocks, dust and gas once the samples are returned to Earth.
On arrival the samples will go into quarantine much like the lunar rocks that returned to Earth on the Apollo and Luna Moon missions. International planetary protection guidelines are being revised in preparation for Martian samples, and getting an update to incorporate more modern technology.
Quarantine will be inside a Sample Receiving Facility, where the samples will already offer a treasure trove of information for scientists even before they are opened. Any Martian dust that might cover the outside of the sample tubes can be analyzed and non-invasive techniques such as X-ray investigations can be run, even on unopened tubes.
