[Reading Science] "Do We Really Need to Bring Back 'Billions of $' Mars Samples?"

2027 Mars Sample Return Orbiter Launch Scheduled
NASA-ESA to Finalize Blueprint Within Months
Facing Huge Budget and Technical Challenges
Attention on Achieving 2033 Sample Return Goal

"Do we really have to spend billions of dollars just to bring back Mars rock samples?" The Mars sample return project, targeted for the early 2030s by the United States and Europe, is facing difficulties due to technical challenges and financial issues.

According to the international academic journal Nature on the 5th, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are struggling with the Mars sample return project, which is expected to cost billions of dollars due to technical difficulties and financial burdens.

The location where NASA's Mars exploration rover Perseverance collected and deposited soil, rock, and air samples. Photo by NASA

For now, the first phase of Mars sample collection has been completed. NASA's Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in February 2021, collected samples of rocks, soil, and air, placing 10 of them in glass tubes and depositing them on the Martian surface twice, in December last year and January this year. The basic retrieval plan by NASA and ESA is also in place. ESA will launch a Mars orbiter as early as 2027. One year later, NASA will send a lander to collect the samples, load them onto a rocket, and send them to ESA's orbiter circling Mars. ESA's orbiter will then return the Mars samples to Earth, landing in the Utah desert in the United States as early as 2033.

The problem is that many technical obstacles exist due to this complex process. First, developing the rocket to be used to transfer samples from Mars to the orbiter and the small helicopter needed for sample collection is a challenge. Launching a rocket in Mars' weak gravity (one-third of Earth's) and thin atmosphere (one-hundredth of Earth's) is not an ordinary task for scientists accustomed to Earth's environment. Especially, developing a small helicopter to collect samples and bring them to the lander in case Perseverance malfunctions is a major challenge. Although flight technology has been somewhat verified by Ingenuity, the Mars helicopter accompanying Perseverance, accurately locating the samples, digging them up from the ground, capturing them, and transporting them to the lander is no easy task.

The enormous budget required is also a major challenge. NASA requested about $1 billion (approximately 1.31 trillion KRW) just for next year to support the Mars sample return project. The total program is expected to cost billions of dollars. Perhaps aware of this, NASA proposed on the 13th of last month to reduce the number of small helicopters to be produced for Mars sample return from two to one. The Mars sample return project threatens to reduce other research programs as well. In fact, NASA plans to cover the budget shortfall by postponing the launch of the Geospace Dynamics Constellation (GDC), a space dynamics satellite proposed for space weather observation missions. Planetary scientist Louis Proctor from Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory pointed out, "The problem is the uncertainty about how much more budget will be needed and what impact it will have on other projects and research conducted by NASA."

Additionally, the fact that NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is in charge of the Mars sample return project is also a source of concern. JPL is overwhelmed with work. The laboratory is conducting the Psyche asteroid exploration mission, estimated to be worth 100 quadrillion KRW, which was scheduled to launch last year but was postponed to October next year due to technical issues. The Venus exploration mission is also temporarily suspended.

NASA and ESA plan to coordinate the detailed aspects of the Mars sample return program within a few months and complete the first cost estimate to address these accumulated challenges. NASA has also agreed to cooperate with ESA, replacing Russia, for the launch of the Mars rover (Rosalind Franklin Mars rover) that ESA plans to send separately. NASA also plans to send another exploration team following Perseverance. Preparations will include procedures and research to examine potential hazards in the samples arriving from the unknown world of Mars and to establish quarantine measures.

Since landing in Jezero Crater on Mars in February 2021, Perseverance has explored about 17 km and collected samples expected to reveal Mars' geological formation process, composition, and evidence of ancient life. Some samples are presumed to be Martian rocks formed by molten rock solidification, which could help estimate the formation period of the Martian surface. Rock samples found in the Hogwallow Flats and Yori Pass are presumed to be sedimentary rocks formed by flowing water. On Earth, sedimentary rocks are closely linked to environments where life can exist. Additionally, the discovery of sulfates in rocks collected by Perseverance increases the possibility that organic traces remain in those rocks if ancient life existed. The 19th sample collected last month after climbing to the top of the ancient delta in Jezero Crater also attracted attention. This rock sample was measured to be rich in carbonates, another mineral that preserves traces of ancient life’s organic matter well.