In April 2024, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson declared the “15-year, $11 million mission to collect and return samples from Mars” was insufficient. For this reason, alternatives were sought to carry out the mission. Finally, NASA found a group of relevant collaborators in the booming space industry. The agency confirmed the contribution of 10 million dollars for the return of a Mars sample to companies like SpaceX and Blue Originamong other.
“The Mars sample return will be one of the most complex missions NASA has ever undertaken,” Nelson says in an agency news release. Furthermore, he emphasizes collaboration with the private sector: “I am excited to see the vision these companies presentcenters and partners as we search for fresh, exciting and innovative ideas to unlock the Red Planet’s big cosmic secrets.”
The return of Martian samples has been NASA’s goal for the last quarter of a century. The study of the history of Mars has become a pillar for the space agencywhich seeks to understand the formation and evolution of habitable worlds.
For this reason, NASA awarded contracts for 1.5 million dollars to seven companies to carry out 90-day studies and thus develop a renewed version of the “Mars Sample Return” mission. The proposals of the space travel companies are:
SpaceX: “Allow the return of samples from Mars with Starship”
Aerojet Rocketdyne: “A high-performance liquid Mars ascent vehicle, utilizing mature and highly reliable propulsion technologies, to improve program affordability and schedule”
Blue Origin: “Taking advantage of Artemis to return samples from Mars”
Quantum space: “Quantum Anchor Leg Mars Sample Return Study”
Northrop Grumman: “High TRL MAV Propulsion Trades and Conceptual Design for Rapid MSR Mission Design”
Whittinghill Aerospace: “A rapid design study for the MSR single-stage Mars ascent vehicle”
Although the titles of each company do not express with too much precision the purpose of the respective proposal, all studies seek to help NASA in their quest to develop viable alternative mission designs, as well as elements of the mission to bring Martian samples to Earth. The studies are intended for both full mission reviews and partial reviews, focusing on elements, for example, in the NASA MSR mission or the Artemis program.
