NASA ESA Mars Sample Return mission is starting to look expensive know why

NASA’s Perseverance Rover is collecting soil and rock samples on Mars. But what is being done to bring them to earth. The answer to this is hidden in the whole mission which we have been calling Mars Sample Return or MSR. In fact, collection of samples by the Perseverance Rover is only part of the MSR. Work on the rest of the campaign is going on. But new information is coming out that there are some apprehensions on this whole campaign because this campaign is becoming expensive. And NASA may have to face further budget problem for this.

What is Mars Sample Return Mission
To know why this is so, we have to first understand the Mars Sample Return Campaign itself. There are four parts of this campaign. The first part, in which samples have to be collected by going to Mars, has already been completed. Which has been done by NASA. NASA is also responsible for the next two parts, the Sample Return Lander (SLR) and the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV). At the same time, the responsibility of the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO) is on the European Space Agency.

SLR and MAV work
The job of SLR is to land on Mars and collect the collected samples of Perseverance and deliver them to the vehicle which will work to bring those samples out of the scope of Mars. This is the responsibility of MAV. The MAV will work to free the samples from the gravity of Mars and hand them over to the Earth-returning vehicle in orbit outside. The design of SSR and MAV has been done and further work is going on.

ERO is not designed
The last phase of this campaign, the Earth Return Orbiter, is currently only at the design level, which will work to reach Earth from the orbit of Mars, only after which this campaign can be considered complete. NASA will also cooperate in some cases for ERO. But a recent report by Casey Dreyer, the Planetary Society’s chief of space policy, highlights some of the challenges the mission is facing.

NASA’s Perseverance Rover has already done the work of extracting samples by going to Mars. (Photo: @NASA)

distress signals
There has been a change in SLR that now a helicopter will be used instead of a rover. But its cost is increasing. Recently, NASA has created a second review board in this project, which has never happened before for the campaign. This board can approve the entire project, limit and even cancel the entire campaign. Some of his decisions will also depend on NASA’s budget.

Read also: In just a few days, India will again send Chandrayaan to the moon, how is the preparation of ISRO

Government and NASA’s budget?
There is strength in these things also because NASA itself is also suffering from budget crisis and not only this, the American government is also in the same condition. The US Congress has kept a tight rein on the expenses of many financial provisions, from which even NASA has not been spared. In such a situation, the cost of Mars sample return is sure to increase with time, which means the crisis will become serious.

The US government and NASA are already facing a lot of challenges regarding the budget. (Representational photo: Pixabay)

Already signs of rising spending
Even after supporting the MSR, the Decadal Survey of Planetary Science has suggested limiting the project to 35 per cent of its budget. The suggestions of the Decadal Survey are accepted by the law makers of America. And the MSR will already reach near the limit of 35 per cent in a few years. At the same time, due to lack of budget, other missions of NASA are also being affected.

Read also: Is NASA’s Artemis agreement really big and important for India?

It is clear that there will be more brainstorming on how this campaign can now be carried out in a more economical way. Already, environmental advocates have been questioning the justification for spending on missions to Mars. At the same time, after moving so far, the rest of the campaign may be postponed, but it is difficult to cancel it. Because there are other countries including China in the queue whose overtaking will not be tolerated by America.

.

Tags: Earth, Mars, Nasa, Research, Science, Space