Mars Sample Return |
Mars Sample Return |
Apr 7 2006, 07:32 AM
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 370 Joined: 12-September 05 From: France Member No.: 495 |
Next phase reached in definition of Mars Sample Return mission
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMJAGNFGLE_index_0.html |
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Oct 16 2007, 03:25 AM
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#2
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 99 Joined: 17-September 07 Member No.: 3901 |
Thanks to monitorlizard for pointing out the Sep24 MEPAG meeting notes with Alan Stern. To summarize the key points that I noticed regarding MSR:
1. The notion is that skipping one Mars launch opportunity next decade would save enough money to develop and launch MSR in 2020. 2. Planning for science, mission architecture, and curation (sample handling in Houston) are proceeding. My analysis: MSR needs two large spacecraft: a lander that carries the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), and an orbiter that carries the Earth Return Vehicle (ERV). Either of these alone is most likely a heavier and more expensive spacecraft than the one single science spacecraft that would be sacrificed in order to pay for MSR. It doesn't appear to compute financially. Maybe it will be affordable if the 2009 MSL lander works like a charm, and is just copied without new lander development. Then the challenge is back to building a very small MAV, and likely also a new ERV that is small enough to send to Mars orbit in the first place. All this says that aggressive innovation in down-sizing propulsion technology is needed. Meanwhile, mission architecture studies (number 2 above) can easily have big errors in the estimates of mission mass (and cost) in the absence of the rocket technology. We have to hope that the science community will appreciate the need for high-risk rocket technology work. There's essentially nothing out there that can be bought and modified or adtapted in order to successfully launch off of Mars. John W. |
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