Can Rocket Lab save NASA’s mission to bring pieces of Mars to Earth?

For more than three years, NASA’s Perseverance rover has roamed the Martian landscape, collecting bits and pieces of rock to be examined by scientists here on Earth. The space agency had come up with an elaborate plan to fly these samples from the Red Planet to Earth using a fleet of robots, but it later became apparent that NASA was having trouble executing the return leg of its mission. Now NASA is turning to space company Rocket Lab for ideas on how to bring rock samples back from Mars in a more cost-effective and timely plan.

NASA chose Rocket Lab, the rising star of the space industry, to offer an alternative way to retrieve rock samples from the Martian surface and bring them to Earth. The company has been tasked with developing an end-to-end mission concept at a fraction of the expected cost of NASA’s Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission that could be completed several years earlier than the space agency’s current timeline, Rocket Lab announced.

This is the first attempt to bring samples from Mars to Earth, and NASA is in desperate need of help due to budget constraints that have plagued the agency’s science quests of late. In April, NASA issued a call for ideas from the private space industry, as well as the larger community of various NASA centers, for a revised plan for the mission that could return the samples sooner and at a lower cost.

NASA had struggled to fulfill its mission, which involves a group of robots, landers and orbiters working on and off Mars. The Perseverance rover is currently collecting rock samples from Mars before stowing them away for a Sample Retrieval Lander to load onto a small rocket from which they will be launched towards another spacecraft in orbit around Mars designed to deliver them on Earth. Once the samples land here, scientists will be able to study them to gather clues about the Red Planet’s early habitability and whether life once existed on Mars.

The mission had come under heavy scrutiny for going over its original budget and timeline. In September 2023, an independent review board (IRB) issued its final report on the MSR, referring to it as a “very limited and challenging campaign” with “unrealistic budget and schedule expectations from the outset.” In response, NASA began considering an alternative architecture for its complex mission and put the program on hold while they tried to sort out the budget.

Originally, the MSR was limited to a budget of $7 billion to return the samples in the 2030s. As of today, however, the mission as it is would require a budget of $11 billion, with an estimate to return the samples to Earth by 2040. During a press conference in April, NASA officials hinted that the agency could return the samples earlier. it has not been for cuts to the agency’s annual budget. NASA’s 2024 budget was $2.31 billion less than what the space agency hoped to receive. Still, it was unclear whether NASA would choose the same mission architecture or opt for a smaller complex.

While NASA develops complicated and often expensive plans for planetary science, Rocket Lab, on the other hand, promises more value for money when it comes to exploring the cosmos. “Retrieving samples from Mars is one of the most ambitious and scientifically important endeavors humanity has ever undertaken. We have developed an innovative mission concept to make it happen affordably and on an accelerated schedule,” said Peter Beck, Rocket Lab’s founder and CEO, said in a statement: “Rocket Lab has methodically implemented a strategy for cost-effective planetary science in recent years, making us uniquely suited to deliver a low-cost, rapid Mars Sample Return.”

Rocket Lab previously delivered NASA’s CAPSTONE orbiter to the Moon to test orbital stability planned for the Lunar Gateway space station. The company also built twin satellites for NASA’s ESCAPADE mission to Mars.

NASA has to rely more on its commercial partners as it receives less funding for its scientific missions while the space industry continues to grow. At this point, it’s hard to imagine the space agency probing the universe for answers to pressing questions like, “are we alone?” without the help of a few private startups. The recent MSR switch is a clear indication that things just aren’t what they used to be, and NASA needs to adjust to its new reality.

More: A bonus ‘Hitchhiker’ will return from Mars in Perseverance’s Sample Tubes

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