NASA Opens Public Forum for Comments on Mars Sample Return Mission Planning

NASA recently announced that the agency is open to comments and other insights from the public regarding the environmental assessments associated with the upcoming Mars Sample Return mission.

Two-Day Public Meeting for Mars Sample Return Mission

FRANCE-SPACE-MARS-ASTRONOMY — French astronaut Thomas Pesquet (L) appears on a screen to deliver a speech next to French President Emmanuel Macron (C) and his wife Brigitte Macron (2nd-R) during a visit at the French National Center for Space Studies (CNES) to watch the landing of NASAs Perseverance Mars rover on the planet Mars, in Paris on February 18, 2021. - The Mars exploration rover will search for signs of ancient microbial life and collect rock samples for future return to Earth to study the red planet's geology and climate, paving the way for human exploration. Perseverance also carries the experimental Ingenuity Mars Helicopter - which will attempt the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The new trip to Mars will be a joint project by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) that aims to bring samples from the red planet here on Earth. Among the objects that will be delivered from Mars are the rocks already collected by the Perseverance rover.

Experts at NASA target to transport the samples safely as early as 2033. Once obtained by our scientists, the rocks will be thoroughly examined for the Martian world's origin and the suspected life that it had before.

The public comments and suggestions can be passed to NASA's online portal or through the agency's dedicated email.

NASA is expected to hold a public forum regarding the upcoming Mars advancements through an online event. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 4, at 3 PM EDT, with a second phase commencing on Thursday, May 5, at 8 PM.

According to the agency's recent press release, the public meeting will involve discussions and briefings regarding the Mars sampling return program and its association with the National Environmental Policy Act. The purpose of the mission, as well as the detailed scientific goals, will also be tackled during the forum.

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Additional topics that will be included in the meeting are the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) which is led by the US Air Force. The department will collaborate with the agency regarding the landing procedures of the sampling mission. The security and safety of the samples would be carried out following the planetary protection rules.

This guideline contains the measures needed in order to prevent cross-contamination between Earth and incoming otherworldly objects.

NASA officials explained that the public comments will be part of the development that is associated with the environmental impacts of the mission. The release of the draft, expected by 2022, will also be open to public opinion and comments.

Second Lander Possible

Last March, NASA explained that there is a possibility to construct a second lander for the Mars Sample Return mission to match the mass capacity required for the transport. The second lander, according to a report by Space, might serve as the fetch rover led by ESA. The first rover, controlled by NASA, would be the Mars ascent vehicle or MAV.

The upcoming mission's main goal is to fetch the samples collected by the Perseverance rover from the red planet's Jezero Crater and secure them in MAV. From that point, the MAV will launch itself back to the Martian orbit and will meet with ESA's return orbiter to set it on the trajectory to Earth.

The proposed second lander, if pushed to development, would move the launch date for the mission to about two years, making the commencement sometime in 2028. The arrival date, which was first estimated at 2031, will also move to 2033.