While the Perseverance rover is currently collecting Martian samples, NASA has kicked off the development of the rocket that will carry them to Mars orbit from where they will be recovered and brought back to Earth by 2030.
The development of the sample return mission being prepared by NASA and the European Space Agency continues. While on Mars the rover Perseverance currently collecting soil samples of the planet that will be brought back to Earth, NASA chose Lockheed Martin to build this rocket. This Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) will be used to send orbit martian samples of the red planet having been picked up from the ground by the fetch rover of the European Space Agency.
Based on military technologies, the engines of which will be versions derived from engines of missilethis MAV will still be complicated to achieve even if NASA can rely on the Apollo program whose astronauts took off from the Moon to join in orbit the vehicle which brought them back to Earth. This mini-launcher must be robust enough to withstand the Martian environment, which is very different from that of Earth. Among the constraints to which he will have to take account, we can cite the low gravity of the planet and theatmosphere Martian, very sparse. In addition, we have never launched a rocket from the surface of another planet. This MAV must be very reliable. Its engines will be on and will have to operate for the expected duration, several years after they were built! The cost of the contract is estimated at some $196 million and includes several test MAVs and a single flight model.
A MAV with limited capabilities
While space agencies and a few private companies could send a first manned mission to Mars during the 2040s, or even before the end of the 2030s for SpaceX, we can regret that the manned aspect is absent in the definition of this MAV.
By making do with a rocket with a limited capacity of less than 20 kilograms payload to launch into Martian orbit, NASA may have lacked the audacity. A manned MAV will require a capacity of the order of one ton to go back into Martian orbit. It will be necessary to carry out a much heavier sample return mission to test an orbit return vehicle with the same mass than a manned MAV.
NASA launches engine development for rocket that will leave Mars with soil samples
Article of Remy Decourt published on 03/15/2021
While the Perseverance rover will collect samples from Mars, NASA has awarded the contract to develop the MAV engines that will take them to Mars orbit from where they will be recovered and brought back to Earth by 2030.
The arrival on Mars of Perseverance rover kicked off the ambitious mission of return of martian samples being prepared by NASA and the European Space Agency. This mission will take place in several stages and will be spread over ten years. It will include several elements made by NASA and theESA. Europe will achieve the capture and return satellite to Earththe fetch rover, the sample recovery and transfer arm in the container. As for NASA, it will produce the Martian Ascent Vehicle (MAV) and its landing system, the sample container, the container capture system in Mars orbit, the Earth re-entry capsule and its inclusion in a double envelope .
As part of this ambitious mission, Perseverance will be responsible for collecting the samples that will be recovered later and brought back to Earth by 2030. In preparation for this mission, NASA has just granted Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation the contract to develop the engines of the Martian Ascension Vehicle (MAV) which will leave Mars with the samples.
If successful, the MAV system will be the first rocket ever launched from the surface of another planet
This two-stage rocket, whose design is based on military technologies, will use two combustible solid to take off from its platform and join the Martian orbit. This contract, for a maximum amount of $84.5 million, covers the construction and testing of the two MAV engines. Very constrained concerning its size and its mass for reasons of size, the MAV must not measure more than 2.8 meters and its diameter is limited to 57 small centimeters. On takeoff, its mass must not exceed 400 kilograms – of which 14 to 16 kilograms represent the mass of the container housing the samples – otherwise it will have difficulty reaching Mars orbit. Compared to the size of a land launch vehicle, such as Ariadne 5 which is more than 50 meters high, the dimensions of the MAV may seem Lilliputian. But the Martian gravity, which represents only 38% of that of the Earth, makes possible the takeoff of a rocket of this size.
An engine from the Star range
It’s not really a new engine that Northrop Grumman will develop. As Rebecca Torzone, vice president of Northrop Grumman’s missile business, pointed out, the MAV ” will use a Star line engine for both rocket stages “. Unsurprisingly, Rebecca Torzone stayed wave on the model that will be used. And for good reason, this military-type engine has nearly a hundred possible configurations in the Northrop Grumman catalogue! That said, it is not surprising: the design of the MAV is based on military technologies and the engines used will be adapted versions of missile engines.
However, the fuel-powered Star engine solid, used to power the two stages of the MAV will have to be adapted to the Martian environment, which is very different from that of Earth. Development constraints that will have to take into account the low gravity of the planet and the density of the Martian atmosphere, which is very sparse. In addition, we have never launched a rocket from the surface of another planet. Hence this contract, which provides for 14 months of development, manufacturing, testing and a qualification phase.
Samples expected on Earth in 2030
If we rely on the scenario that is now fixed, but subject to modification if unforeseen events arise during the collection of samples with the Perseverance rover (March 2020), NASA plans to launch in 2026 the Sample Retrieval lander, on which the MAV and the fetch rover of the European Space Agency. The lander will land near Perseverance.
the fetch rover of the ESA will retrieve the samples from the Red Planet collected by the Perseverance rover which will have housed them in a container with 36 sample tubes the size of a pen. The container will then be installed on the MAV which will launch it into orbit from where it will be recovered by theearth return Orbitof the ESA. A mechanism will lock the container inside a bio-containment system before bringing it back to our Planet. The MAV launch, which is not expected before mid-2029, will be observed by the Perseverance and Fetch rovers.
The return of the samples to Earth could take place as early as 2030.
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