Mars Sample Return
The Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission will be the first time that the retrieval of samples from another planet has been attempted.
Artist's impression of a Mars sample return mission
Credit: ESA
The technological requirements are considerable but will build upon those already achieved for the ExoMars mission and the requirements for the Mars NEXT mission.
Mars Sample Return will be the most complex mission ever sent to Mars and will require five spacecraft: an Earth-Mars transfer stage, a Mars orbiter, a descent module, an ascent module and an Earth re-entry vehicle. After landing, a drilling device on the descent module will collect samples of Martian soil from the subsurface as the radiation levels on the surface together with its likely highly oxidised state mean that surface samples are unlikely to harbour life. In addition a rover will collect samples from further afield. The total sample weight will be approximately 500 grams and this will then be loaded into the ascent vehicle. This will be launched into orbit to rendezvous with the orbiter. The Earth re-entry vehicle will then return to Earth with the sample using either a parachute or inflatable airbag system for descent. The samples will be recovered and examined in a specialised "curation" facility, avoiding both potential contamination of the samples by Earth micro-organisms and possible contamination of Earth by any Martian organisms which might be present.
Several new technologies will be required for this mission including the Mars ascent vehicle, the rendezvous system in Mars orbit and the Earth re-entry vehicle. Selection of a landing site will be of prime importance in this mission and will draw on the knowledge gained by previous missions, particularly ExoMars.
In 2008 iMARS, the International Mars Architecture for the Return of Samples, a subcommittee of the International Mars Exploration Working Group (IMEWG), produced a report entitled Preliminary Planning for an International Mars Sample Return Mission. The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) produced its own 'UK Roadmap to Mars Sample Return' (PDF, 55 Kb) , a document outlining a strategy for delivery of meaningful UK involvement in a Mars Sample Return mission through the UK's continued membership of ESA's Aurora programme.
