NASA plans to bring 30 samples from Mars, including rocks, soil, and atmosphere. The Mars Sample Return Mission expects to bring back the samples in early 2030. The agency sent out the rover to get information before a human visit to the Red Planet. It was also the agency's goal to know if there were signs of life in the past.
Yet, according to the agency, the samples should not be sterilized. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists said sterilizing a sample would lose science's significant portion, which could provide potential biosignatures. The scientists added that it would be challenging to do the laboratory work in the space station. The challenges they expected include the manipulation of samples and instrumentation in space. They wanted to use the best laboratory instruments in the world.
The researchers will conduct a series of tests to ensure the samples are safe. However, they said that the best test would not provide sufficient data to help them change their containment protocol. Yet, they assure that they treated the samples as if they were not safe.
The scientists recognized that Mars is difficult to live in because its extreme environment reduces the chances that there was life on the Red Planet.
The agency guaranteed that a biosafe facility would be built to contain the samples. The biosafe facility would also function in distributing subsets of the samples that are reclassified as safe. It could be done using the cumulative results of measurements for sterilizing the sample subset.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Mars Sample Return Mission
Mars Sample Return is NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's proposed mission to return samples found on Mars back to Earth. To execute the mission, a Mars attempt rock and robotics systems would collect and send samples from the Red Planet.
The Mars sample return is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, which is a collaboration project with NASA's various centers along with the European Space Agency (ESA).
NASA and ESA proposed to use Sample Retrieval Lander, Sample Fetch Rover, Mars Ascent Vehicle, and Earth Return Orbiter that would play a major role in returning the collected samples from Mars to Earth.
NASA Postponed Mars Sample Return Campaign Fetched by Perseverance Rover
NASA announced in March that it would move its Mars sample return campaign two 2028 from its original targeted launching in 2026. NASA Associate Administration for Science Thomas Zurbuchen said that the decision has been adopted to reduce the overall risk of the mission.
"The Phase A analysis demonstrated that, frankly, the single lander breaks entry, descent, and landing heritage. It is actually high risk," said Zurbuchen.
With the potential risk that NASA and ESA foresee, the two agencies prepared a new plan. The current plan would separate the single Sample Retrieval Lander spacecraft into two. Separating the spacecraft would increase its probability of success and ensure a safe return.
Zurbuchen said the dual lander approach was way better than the single lander approach. In the single lander approach, a larger heat shield is needed, which would increase the payload fairing of its launch vehicle.
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