Airbus wins deal for Martian soil recovery mission

Part of an agreement signed by NASA and ESA in April 2018, the two studies will explore how to collect soil samples harvested by NASA’s Mars2020 rover, then launch them to orbit and bring them back to Earth. A Sample Fetch Rover will pick up the 36 pen-size canisters that the Mars2020 rover has filled. These samples will then be transferred to a Mars Ascent Vehicle, which will place them in orbit around Mars.

If all goes smoothly to this point, an Earth Return Orbiter will then capture the basketball-sized container, seal it to prevent contamination, and bring it back to Earth.

“With the combined expertise of ESA and NASA, this landmark mission is ambitious and technologically very advanced, with two rovers interacting together on Mars for the first time,” said Ben Boyes, the Airbus project manager for the Sample Fetch Rover study. “A double first of launching from the planet’s surface and the in-orbit transfer of the samples means it will be possible for the first time to directly study Mars soil in laboratories on Earth.”