NASA has a number of modern robots on Mars. For example, the tenacity wagon is equipped with multiple cameras, multiple spectrometers, and even a small box that produces oxygen. However, even with a lot of technology, information here on Earth can be obtained with much greater accuracy than has been mined and collected on the Red Planet.
As such, we need to bring these Martian pieces back to our planet. The mission is not easy, and it has never been carried out, but there is already a plan between NASA and the European Space Agency to “bring Mars to Earth”.
Perseverance begins dropping samples collected across the planet
NASA and the European Space Agency Agree to a place To persevere on the first deposit cache (tube) of samples, which can be retrieved within a few years when the so-called Mars sample return campaign begins.
During its time on Mars, the rover will analyze many samples using the instruments at its disposal, but the team responsible for the rover and the mission is also carefully collecting a set of samples that will return to Earth.
This Martian soil-dwelling spacecraft is designed with the innovative sampling system, which packs rock cores into pristine metal tubes that protect them from contamination on the return trip. So far, the Perseverance collected 14 samples of basic rocks in tubes. The robot has several dozen tube samples at its disposal.
After a decade... Mars will come to Earth
NASA and the European Space Agency have agreed to deposit the first batch of samples at a site known as Three Forks, near the ancient river delta base at Jezero Crater. The sample recovery mission is still in development, so the team has to make some assumptions about how the return campaign will work.
A few months ago, agencies updated the plan to drop a second rover that was supposed to fly with the return vehicle. Perseverance will now be the primary means of bringing samples to the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV). There will also be a pair of helicopters based on a very successful creative design.
The Three Forks tube cache will act as a backup in the event that the MAV can't meet persistence or a problem arises with the sample storage system.
Shortly after Perseverance drops its first batch of samples, engineers on the ground will begin the process of hardware testing for the return campaign. In what is known as "Phase B," the team is working on developing prototypes that will eventually become the final flight hardware, which we hope will have no flaws or software glitches. There is already enough that an error can occur without hardware failures.
After landing at Jezero Crater, the MAV will deposit the recovered tubes onto a rocket that will be sent into orbit.
At that moment, the European Space Agency's spacecraft will have to carry it and return to Earth. If all goes as planned, then Samples could return to Earth as early as 2033.
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