By 
August 16th, 2017
Loaded to the brim with samples, a robotic Mars Ascent Vehicle rockets off the planet under the watchful eye of an accompanying mini-rover.
Credit: NASA/JPL
How best to robotically tow back to Earth soil and rock samples of Mars is now in vigorous discussion.
The enterprise calls to mind part of the lyrics from a Stevie Wonder classic: “Here I am baby. Oh, you’ve got the future in your hand. Signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours.”
NASA’s Mars 2020 rover mission is a spacecraft being cast as the first stage in hauling home specimens of the Red Planet.
Tests are underway at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to demonstrate a direct to Earth Mars return sample capsule and a high-speed desert impact.
Credit: NASA/JPL
Seal the deal
To seal the deal, NASA has created a Returned Sample Science Board. A half-day workshop on where this effort now stands took place last month.
For detailed information, go to my new Space.com article:
Mars Sample Return: Scientists Debate How to Bring Red Planet Rocks to Earth
https://www.space.com/37815-nasa-mars-sample-return-plans.html
Posted in Space News
