Samples from Mars on Earth: important announcement from NASA

During a press conference held on Monday 15 April 2024 the NASA it shed light on the fate – heavily in the balance – of very important people samples from Mars from bring back to Earth. The US aerospace agency has decided to cut the budget (from 11 billion dollars to 5-7 billion dollars) of the recovery mission but to try to anticipate recovery times, remaining focused on the objective. “Such samples will not only help us understand the formation and evolution of our Solar System, but can be used to prepare future human explorers and to help NASA search for signs of ancient life,” the agency said in a press release.

Among the workhorses of the mission Mars 2020 which landed – or rather, landed – in February 2021 Rover Perseverance on Mars there is the Mars Sample Return (MSR). It is a joint plan between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) aimed precisely at transferring rock and soil samples to our planet (regolith) uncontaminated, collected on the “Red Planet” and inserted into cylindrical tubes in titanium from the nuclear-powered rover. But the project had a huge setback last year, when a independent review has brought to light various problems, both of economic nature (budget available) and techniques. If that wasn’t enough, the Stars and Stripes aerospace agency also had to cut some of its staff Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) directly involved in the MSR project.

The Perseverance rover, just over 3 years ago, landed in the Jezero crater of Mars which, according to experts, was once the bottom of a lake. His sediments they are therefore considered extremely valuable, also for understanding the potential presence of past life on the fourth planet of the Solar System. Since it started running along the crater, the robot began taking samples and placing them in sophisticated capsules. About thirty were filled, with samples of igneous, sedimentary rock, regolith and even simple atmosphere. These tubes – Perseverance has 43 in all – are designed to be left in the field and withstand long exposure to Martian weather, such as dust storms and lethal ultraviolet radiation.

The initial plan involved recovering the capsules by 2033 (then moved to 2040), through an unprecedented and pioneering mission based on several phases: arrival of a probe on the regolith capable of collecting these objects; takeoff from the Red Planet; reunion with the mother probe in Martian orbit; departure towards Earth with the precious cargo. Easier said than done, given that these are “first times” for each of these very delicate phases. And we know well what they are failure rates of robotic missions, even to the nearest Moon.

A major setback, as indicated, had come from an independent review commissioned by NASA itself. The final report “Mars Sample Return (MSR) Independent Review Board-2 Final Report” published on September 1, 2023 concluded that both the budget and expectations were simply “unrealistic”. Among the critical issues highlighted are the limited mass margins; uncertainties about the performance of spacecraft that must be purpose-built; limited launch windows (due to the orbital distance between Mars and Earth, with significant periodic changes); multiple transfers; the necessary skills; the aging of telecommunications equipment and much more. If that wasn’t enough, public funding for NASA for 2024 has been cut by almost half a billion dollars, with the Mars Sample Return project particularly impressed. It is no coincidence that NASA had to make several layoffs, involving many of the mission leaders.

Now the new significant downsizing of the budget, without however changing the objectives of the mission. “Mars Sample Return will be one of the most complex missions NASA has ever undertaken. The bottom line is that an $11 billion budget is too expensive and the 2040 return date is too far away,” the NASA administrator said Bill Nelson. “Landing and collecting the samples safely, launching a rocket with the samples from another planet – which has never been done before – and safely transporting the samples more than 33 million miles to Earth is no small task. We have to look outside from the schemes to find a solution that is both convenient and returns the samples in a reasonable amount of time”, commented the former astronaut and American politician. To achieve the virtuous goal while reducing costs, the agency asks its scientists to “work together to develop a revised plan that takes advantage of innovation and proven technology”.

The scientific samples collected by the Perseverance rover will not only help scientists understand the geological history of Mars, but also the evolution of its climate. They will also help scientists prepare for future human missions to the Red Planet. For NASA, as explained by Science Mission Directorate administrator Nicky Fox, the return of these samples is a fundamental priority. All that remains is to wait for the developments of this pioneering mission, scaled down from the point of view of costs but not from that of ambition.