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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Nov 17 2023, 01:29 AM
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 214 Joined: 30-December 05 Member No.: 628 |
I know it sounds very cynical, but given the technical difficulty and risks of automated sample retrieval coupled with the tendency of the budgeting process to embed large giveaways to politically influential contractors who then fail to meet their deadlines, it may make sense to slow down the spending of tax dollars on the problem and instead wait for a privately sponsored mission to bring the samples back. Of course at that point, there would be other samples available from other locations.
Enough said (probably more than enough, but at least I have left out the forbidden word beginning with m). |
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Nov 17 2023, 02:47 AM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2517 Joined: 13-September 05 Member No.: 497 |
wait for a privately sponsored mission to bring the samples back... Despite all the hype from some quarters, you might have a long wait. -------------------- Disclaimer: This post is based on public information only. Any opinions are my own.
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Nov 17 2023, 03:12 AM
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#4
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Member Group: Members Posts: 233 Joined: 14-January 22 Member No.: 9140 |
Remember at the height of the Cold War, the first images from the surface of the Moon were published by the British, who intercepted and decoded the radio transmissions by the Soviet Luna 9.
Which suggests the possibility that Perseverance's samples could be picked up by any space agency and brought back to Earth. There are no police on Mars to prevent China, say, from bringing them back. That might be poor optics in terms of international cooperation and prestige, but it might light a fire under some planners if they thought about the fact that they could botch things badly enough to let that occur. |
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Dec 1 2023, 02:56 AM
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#5
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Member Group: Members Posts: 611 Joined: 23-February 07 From: Occasionally in Columbia, MD Member No.: 1764 |
Remember at the height of the Cold War, the first images from the surface of the Moon were published by the British, who intercepted and decoded the radio transmissions by the Soviet Luna 9. Which suggests the possibility that Perseverance's samples could be picked up by any space agency and brought back to Earth. There are no police on Mars to prevent China, say, from bringing them back. Why would the Chinese want to steal those samples? I think (personal opinion only) that the planetary community went along with the Mars community's stance (not a universal one - I for one would like to see a meteorological network, and an Ice-mapping radar isnt a bad complement to what we have with the existing, but ageing, fleet...) in the 2012 Decadal Survey of 'Sample Return above all else' with some sort of mental picture of 'well, obviously the samples will be a priori very exciting, like they have high organic content, or textures reminiscent of stromatolites...'. I dont believe the current Perseverance sample suite, for all their petrological value etc., fulfils that fantasy. A better bet for China would be to try an entirely new location, rolling the dice for a higher astrobiology score. The prior sample encapsulation in tubes isn't that big an advantage, the Chinese have already demonstrated the ability to acquire regolith samples on the Moon. |
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