[meteorite-list] Mission to Bring Back Soil Samples from Mars Gets 2018 Launch

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:29:23 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200807110129.SAA13801_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Mission_to_bring_back_soil_samples_from_Mars_gets_2018_la
APF
July 9, 2008

Space experts on Wednesday set a date of 2018 for launching the Mars
Sample Return mission, billed as the most complex and costliest
exploration of the Red Planet ever planned.

The unmanned mission aims to pick up soil and rocks from Mars and bring
them back to Earth, where big labs can wring far more data from them
than by remote control using small instruments on a scout vehicle.

"2018 will start the era of Mars Sample Return," Doug Mc Cuistion,
director of NASA's Mars Exploration Programme, told a press conference.

The preliminary report, issued in Paris by a working group, sketched a
mission profile and flight design but also cautioned that many
challenges lay ahead.

Its authors said that, regardless of the start date, it would take five
years for the precious 500-gramme (1.1-pound) sample to be brought back
to Earth and space powers had to pool resources to achieve the
extraordinary goal.

Stephane Janichewski, deputy director of France's National Centre for
Space Studies (Cnes) said "at least a transatlantic cooperation" was
needed between Europe and the United States to fulfil this "very
challenging" project.

"It's a sort of (Holy) Grail we are looking for," said Janichewski,
referring to the project's scope.

In the most optimistic scenario, a US Atlas A 551 rocket would lift off
in 2018 carrying a mobile rover -- or alternatively, a non-mobile lander
-- that would be dropped down to Mars to pick up samples selected to
give the broadest picture possible of the planet's geological past.

Included in the package would be a small rocket, a Mars Ascent Vehicle,
that would later blast off with the sample onboard.

In 2019, a European 5 ECA heavy rocket would take off, sending an
orbiter to Mars. The Mars Ascent Vehicle would leave the Red Planet with
the sample container and drop it off in Martian orbit, where it would be
captured by the orbiter.

The orbiter would then start the long haul back to Earth, eventually
dropping off the sample in an "Earth Entry Vehicle" designed to survive
the fiery descent through the terrestrial atmosphere. It would then be
retrieved and analysed.

Mars has exerted a fascination for thousands of years, reflected in
ancient mythology and superstition.

Scientists, too, are engrossed with Mars, as it is the most Earth-like
planet in the Solar system.

"Of the various places of interest for evaluating whether or not life
exists or has existed elsewhere in the Universe, Mars is by far the most
accessible," the preliminary planning report noted.

The document says the cost would roughly range from 4.5 to eight billion
dollars (three to 5.3 billion euros), "depending on the final
requirements and international cooperative structure."
Received on Thu 10 Jul 2008 09:29:23 PM PDT