Airbus: wins two ESA studies for Mars Sample Return mission
(CercleFinance.com) - The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded Airbus with two studies to return samples of the planet Mars to Earth.
Airbus will therefore conduct two studies to design a Sample Fetch Rover and an Earth Return Orbiter, which will recuperate them in orbit and bring the samples back to Earth.
"After launching to Mars in 2026, the Mars Sample Fetch Rover will retrieve Mars samples left by the Mars2020 rover. This NASA rover will leave 36 pen sized sample tubes on the Martian surface ready to be collected later. The Sample Fetch Rover will pick up the sample tubes, carry them back and load them into a sample container within the waiting Mars Ascent Vehicle. The Mars Ascent Vehicle will then launch from the surface and put the sample container into orbit about Mars," the group said.
As a third part of the mission, ESA's Earth Return Orbiter, will capture the basketball-sized sample container orbiting Mars, seal it within a biocontainment system, and bring the samples back to Earth.
Copyright (c) 2018 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.
Airbus will therefore conduct two studies to design a Sample Fetch Rover and an Earth Return Orbiter, which will recuperate them in orbit and bring the samples back to Earth.
"After launching to Mars in 2026, the Mars Sample Fetch Rover will retrieve Mars samples left by the Mars2020 rover. This NASA rover will leave 36 pen sized sample tubes on the Martian surface ready to be collected later. The Sample Fetch Rover will pick up the sample tubes, carry them back and load them into a sample container within the waiting Mars Ascent Vehicle. The Mars Ascent Vehicle will then launch from the surface and put the sample container into orbit about Mars," the group said.
As a third part of the mission, ESA's Earth Return Orbiter, will capture the basketball-sized sample container orbiting Mars, seal it within a biocontainment system, and bring the samples back to Earth.
Copyright (c) 2018 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.