NASA has awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin Space of Littleton, Colorado, to build the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), a small, lightweight rocket to launch rock, sediment, and atmospheric samples from the surface of the Red Planet. The award brings NASA a step closer to the first robotic round-trip to bring samples safely to Earth through the Mars Sample Return Program.
“This groundbreaking endeavor is destined to inspire the
world when the first robotic round-trip mission retrieves a sample from another
planet – a significant step that will ultimately help send the first astronauts
to Mars,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said. “America’s investment in our
Mars Sample Return program will fulfill a top priority planetary science goal
and demonstrate our commitment to global partnerships, ensuring NASA remains a
leader in exploration and discovery.”
Set to become the first rocket fired off another planet, the
MAV is a crucial part of a campaign to retrieve samples collected by NASA’s
Perseverance rover and deliver them to Earth for advanced study. NASA’s Sample
Retrieval Lander, another important part of the campaign, would carry the MAV
to Mars’ surface, landing near or in Jezero Crater to gather the samples cached
by Perseverance. The samples would be returned to the lander, which would serve
as the launch platform for the MAV. With the sample container secured, the MAV
would then launch.
Once it reaches Mars orbit, the container would be captured
by an ESA (European Space Agency) Earth Return Orbiter spacecraft outfitted
with NASA’s Capture, Containment, and Return System payload. The spacecraft
would bring the samples to Earth safely and securely in the early- to
mid-2030s.
“Committing to the Mars Ascent Vehicle represents an early
and concrete step to hammer out the details of this ambitious project not just
to land on Mars, but to take off from it,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate
administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We are nearing
the end of the conceptual phase for this Mars Sample Return mission, and the
pieces are coming together to bring home the first samples from another planet.
Once on Earth, they can be studied by state-of-the-art tools too complex to
transport into space.”
Returning a sample is complicated, and MAV faces some
complex development challenges. It must be robust enough to withstand the harsh
Mars environment and adaptable enough to work with multiple spacecraft. It also
must be small enough to fit inside the Sample Retrieval Lander. The Sample
Retrieval Lander is planned for launch no earlier than 2026 from NASA’s Kennedy
Space Center in Florida.
Lockheed Martin Space will provide multiple MAV test units
and a flight unit. Work under the contract includes designing, developing,
testing, and evaluating the integrated MAV system, and designing and developing
of the rocket’s ground support equipment.
The cost-plus-fixed-fee Mars Ascent Vehicle Integrated
System (MAVIS) contract has a potential value of $194 million. The performance
period begins no later than Feb. 25 and will extend six years.
NASA’s Mars Sample Return Campaign promises to revolutionize
our understanding of Mars by bringing scientifically selected samples for study
using the most sophisticated instruments around the world. The campaign would
fulfill a solar system exploration goal, a high priority since the 1970s and in
the last two National Academy of Sciences Planetary Decadal Surveys.
This strategic NASA and ESA partnership would be the first
mission to return samples from another planet and the first launch from the surface of another
planet. The samples collected by Perseverance during its exploration of an
ancient river delta are thought to present the best opportunity to reveal the
early evolution of Mars, including the potential for life.
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