{"id":10137,"date":"2024-04-16T19:19:44","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T11:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-requests-proposals-to-reduce-cost-timeline-of-mars-sample-return-mission\/"},"modified":"2024-04-16T19:19:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T11:19:44","slug":"nasa-requests-proposals-to-reduce-cost-timeline-of-mars-sample-return-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-requests-proposals-to-reduce-cost-timeline-of-mars-sample-return-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA requests proposals to reduce cost, timeline of Mars Sample Return mission"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This illustration shows a concept for multiple robots that would team up to ferry to Earth samples of rocks and soil being collected from the Martian surface by NASA\u2019s Mars Perseverance rover.
Credit: NASA\/ESA\/JPL-Caltech<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA is going back to square one when it comes to many aspects of its Mars Sample Return mission in response to independent reviews that showed ballooning costs and significant schedule delays.<\/p>\n

The current architecture called for no less than five separate vehicles to transport back to Earth more than two dozen samples collected on the Martian surface by the Perseverance rover, which has been traveling the Red Planet since 2021 and is the first of those.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery indication that we\u2019ve had from the independent review boards, plus the [Inspector General], that this thing could cost up to $11 billion, which would cause NASA to have to cannibalize other programs,\u201d Nelson said, referring to science programs, like the Dragonfly mission to Saturn\u2019s moon, Titan, and the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission to find and track potentially hazardous objects.<\/p>\n

That cost estimate of $11 billion came from the second MSR Independent Review Board (IRB-2) analysis in which it estimated needing between $850 million and $1 billion annually during the development period. Nelson pointed out that the Decadal Survey, an assessment of priorities from the science community via the National Science Foundation created every ten years, argued that it should cost approximately between $5 and $7 billion.<\/p>\n

He described the $11 billion projection as being \u201ctoo expensive\u201d and a 2040 sample return date as being \u201cunacceptably too long.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the decade of the 2040s that we\u2019re going to be landing astronauts on Mars,\u201d Nelson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have asked our folks to reach out with a request for information to industry, to [the Jet Propulsion Lab] and to all NASA centers and to report back this fall an alternate plan that would get it back quicker and cheaper and try to stay within those limits.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This photomontage shows each of the sample tubes shortly after they were deposited onto the surface by NASA\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover, as viewed by the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera on the end of the rover\u2019s 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm.
Shown, from left, are \u201cMalay,\u201d \u201cMageik,\u201d \u201cCrosswind Lake,\u201d \u201cRoubion,\u201d \u201cCoulettes,\u201d \u201cMontdenier,\u201d \u201cBearwallow,\u201d \u201cSkyland,\u201d \u201cAtsah,\u201d and \u201cAmalik.\u201d Deposited from Dec. 21, 2022, to Jan. 28, 2023, these samples make up the sample depot Perseverance built at \u201cThree Forks,\u201d a location within Mars\u2019 Jezero Crater. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/MSSS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A request for proposal will be published on April 16. That will be followed by an industry day on April 22 to field questions. Short proposals will be due on May 17 with a selection expected by Fall 2024.<\/p>\n

Dr. Nicky Fox, the associate administrator of NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate, also noted that the management structure of MSR would be changing as well. Instead of couching everything under JPL, it would instead move the different elements of the mission into standalone management.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re hoping is that we will be able to get back some more traditional, tried and true architectures, things that do not require huge technological leaps, but that have high heritage and thereby we can lower the risk and the cost and also the time for development,\u201d Fox said. \u201cAnything requiring huge leaps in technology, usually, from experience, takes a lot of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Technological marvel with heritage products<\/h4>\n

The feat being carried out by the MSR is something never done before. It would require a lander, touching down on the surface of Mars, retrieving the samples collected by the Perseverance rover, sending them up to Martian orbit and then bringing them back to Earth.<\/p>\n

The mission is being doing in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), which is assisting with the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO) along with the Capture Containment and Return System (CCRS).<\/p>\n

In 2022, Lockheed Martin was selected as the prime contractor for three elements of MSR:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • $35 million \u2013 cruise stage of the lander<\/li>\n
  • $194 million \u2013 Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV)<\/li>\n
  • $2.6 million \u2013 preliminary design of the Earth Entry System<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Spaceflight Now reached out to see if those contracts are still in place and are waiting to hear back. The MSR IRB-2 Review Team (MIRT), which was formed to respond to the IRB-2 assessment, had a written recommendation was to launch the ERO\/CCRS with ESA in 2030 and and to launch the Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL)\/MAV in 2035.<\/p>\n

    \"\"
    This illustration shows NASA\u2019s Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) in powered flight. The MAV will carry tubes containing Martian rock and soil samples into orbit around Mars, where ESA\u2019s Earth Return Orbiter spacecraft will enclose them in a highly secure containment capsule and deliver them to Earth. Graphic: NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    During a teleconference with members of the press, Fox said that 2030 is a possible launch date for the ERO\/CCRS, but that\u2019s not a hard and fast date, noting it could change \u201cwhen we see the results of the architecture studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Fox said that proven technology with heritage is preferable for this new architecture as opposed to wholly new systems.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIf you have subsystems, you have pieces of architecture that\u2019s been used before, then, that really does improve the risk posture and it removes any need to do a big technology development,\u201d Fox said.<\/p>\n

    While a formal request for proposal won\u2019t be published until Tuesday, in a social media post, SpaceX founder Elon Musk put forward the company\u2019s Starship rocket, which aims to achieve full reusability over time.<\/p>\n