Title: Mars Sample Return Mission in Jeopardy: A New Approach Needed
The highly anticipated NASA mission, Mars Sample Return, is facing significant challenges that threaten its future. With a soaring budget, now estimated to be over $11 billion, and a potential delay in the sample return date from the end of this decade to 2040, a reevaluation of the mission’s approach is necessary.
The Mars Sample Return mission aims to be the first to collect rock samples from Mars and return them to Earth for analysis, a critical step in the search for life beyond our planet. However, the mission’s current pace and cost have been criticized by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson as being too slow and expensive.
As a cosmologist and author of a book about early missions to Mars, I’ve been closely following the sample return saga. Mars is the most viable candidate for finding extraterrestrial life, and the potential failure of this ambitious mission could deprive scientists of the opportunity to learn more about the red planet.
The Habitability of Mars
Early NASA missions to Mars in 1976 depicted the planet as a harsh, frigid desert, inhospitable to life without a thick atmosphere. However, recent studies suggest that Mars may have been much warmer and wetter several billion years ago. The Curiosity and Perseverance rovers have provided evidence of an early environment suitable for microbial life, with the discovery of chemical building blocks of life and signs of surface water in the distant past.
The Importance of Mars Samples
The first time NASA searched for life in a Mars rock was in 1996. Scientists claimed to have discovered microscopic fossils of bacteria in the Martian meteorite ALH84001. However, the findings were disputed, and most scientists now agree that there is not enough evidence to conclude that the rock contains fossils.
While several hundred Martian meteorites have been found on Earth over the past 40 years, they cannot replace the value of bringing back samples from a region known to have been hospitable to life. The cost of $700 million per ounce for these samples makes them the most expensive material ever gathered.
A Compelling and Complex Mission
The Mars Sample Return mission is the most challenging NASA has ever attempted. Perseverance has collected over two dozen rock and soil samples, storing them in containers the size of test tubes. These samples will be transported to the Sample Retrieval Lander, which will launch them into Mars’ orbit. The European Space Agency’s Earth Return Orbiter will then capture the samples and return them to Earth.
Despite the mission’s significance, the complexity of the mission has led to budget overruns and delays. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the NASA center behind the mission, has laid off over 500 employees, partially due to budget constraints and an overfull plate of planetary missions.
Thinking Outside the Box
To overcome these challenges, NASA has invited innovative designs from private industries, aiming to reduce the mission’s cost and complexity. Proposals are due by May 17, and private companies, including SpaceX, are encouraged to participate.
SpaceX, with its massive Starship rocket, could potentially bring back a large payload of Mars rocks in a single two-year mission at a far lower cost. However, the use of Starship comes with risks and uncertainties, and it’s unclear whether it could return the samples that Perseverance has already gathered.
With all these challenges and constraints, NASA is counting on the private sector to provide a feasible solution. The coming months will reveal whether the private sector can deliver a winning solution for the Mars Sample Return mission.