NASA plans to return rock samples from Mars with the help of two space helicopters

NASA has Changing the Mars Sample Return Program In order to return the rock samples, the roving probe was drilling and collecting from the Jezero crater in a big way. Instead of sending a Sample Fetch Rover to the Red Planet as originally planned, the software will take advantage of the same persistence and send two helicopters based on cleverness for backup.

It was NASA and the European Space Agency work together On the back program model over the past few years. The original plan was to send an ESA-made Fetch Rover to retrieve the samples and return them to the missile, which would have them plucked by the Earth Return Orbiter. as such New York times Note, however, that the rover’s design has become so large that it is no longer suitable for a single landing craft with return rocket. NASA should use one probe each.

But why do it when there are other, more affordable options? A model landing on Mars isn’t set until 2030, but NASA is confident that perseverance will still be up and running by then — after all, Curiosity is still operating nearly 11 years after its launch. Under their revamped plan, the Perseverance will arrive at the lander to deliver 30 rock samples that will be loaded onto the rocket.

If anything goes wrong with the persistence before then, the probe will rest near the rover and then reserve helicopters to retrieve the samples. While the helicopters are modeled after creativity, they will have small wheels on the bottom. This will allow them to drive up to the samples that have been sealed inside the tubes and pick them up from the ground where the rover dropped them.

The Creativity Helicopter has completed its work First test flight on Mars in April 2021. NASA wasn’t expecting much from the helicopter, which was supposed to prove that a trip to Mars is possible. It was also supposed to fly only a few times during a one-month tech show, but it has completed 29 successful flights so far, with More on the way. The success of the creativity gave NASA another way to retrieve the precious samples collected by perseverance.

During the press conference to announce plans for the new sample return program, Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Directorate, said:

“We made our decision based on new studies and recent achievements on Mars that allowed us to consider options that were not available to us, frankly, a year or so ago.”

The Earth Return Probe and the Sample Recovery Probe will launch in the fall of 2027 and the summer of 2028, respectively. Their journey to and from the Red Planet will take years, so the samples are not expected to reach Earth until 2033.