Texas A&M University and NASA are teaming up to bring new levels of planetary protection against forward contamination of other worlds from our space probes. The team hopes to sterilize future hardware using a well-known technique called electron beam irradiation.
April 15th, 2004
Tricky Catch Practice
Somewhere over a wide stretch of Arizona desert today, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will perform its best impersonation of James Bond. For a scientific facility best known for shipping six-wheeled rovers to Mars and flinging probes to the far corners of the solar system, the terrestrial exercises might seem a bit mundane. Then again, none of those missions ever involved stunt pilots or helicopters snatching a space probe from midair. This will be the first sample of space material returned to Earth since Apollo 17 came back from the moon in 1972. Other samples, however, will follow
April 5th, 2004
Two Directions for Sample Return Mission Universe Today
Since it was awarded a contract to study the feasibility of return samples of Mars back Earth, EADS Space has come up with two different directions. The first is to launch the sample ascent vehicle from the surface of Mars and dock with the return vehicle in space. In the second design, the ascent vehicle would reach orbit and then eject the samples for the return vehicle to “catch”. How the samples are returned to Earth will make a big difference on the mission’s cost, mass and complexity.
April 4th, 2004
Europe plans for Mars sample return mission Spaceflight Now
Following award of the study contract by the European Space Agency, EADS Space has made significant progress in completing the first definition of a European Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. While EADS Astrium is defining the overall mission and the spacecraft, EADS Space Transportation is responsible for the re-entry systems and a ‘Mars Ascent Vehicle’ – a small rocket to carry the precious sample up through the Martian atmosphere.
April 2nd, 2004
EADS Space Defines Mars Sample Return Mission EADS Space
Following award of the [EURO] 600k study contract by ESA, EADS Space has made significant progress in completing the first definition of a European Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. While EADS Astrium is defining the overall mission and the spacecraft, EADS Space Transportation is responsible for the re-entry systems and a ‘Mars Ascent Vehicle’ – a small rocket to carry the precious sample up through the Martian atmosphere.
April 1st, 2004
Secret French Spacecraft Picks Up Rover Samples
A MARSNEWS.COM EXCLUSIVE
In another stunning development, ESA officials have confirmed to MarsNews.com that the sample canisters launched by the twin Mars Exploration Rovers into Mars orbit have been successfully retrieved by a previously undisclosed Mars Sample Return Vehicle (MSRV) orbiting the Red Planet.
ESA’s MSRV spacecraft (built by France) arrived at Mars late last year as part of the Mars Express mission and carries a new propulsion system which our contacts at ESA have remained tight-lipped about.
March 4th, 2004
Colorado likely to land lucrative Mars contracts The Denver Post
Colorado, a space industry “powerhouse,” could corner up to half of the contracts in a nearly $3 billion proposed mission to bring martian rocks and soil back to Earth for study. The state’s know-how includes Lockheed Martin Space Systems’ Atlas rockets, which could power a craft to Mars; Ball Aerospace’s expertise in snaring samples and sealing them against contamination; and the University of Colorado’s skill in recognizing the signature of fossilized life forms.
February 9th, 2004
EADS Space Wins Contract To Define Mars Sample Return Missions
EADS Space has been awarded a EUR600k Study by ESA to carry out the first definition of a European Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. The study will benefit from the combined resources of EADS Astrium and EADS Space Transportation. While EADS Astrium will define the overall mission and the spacecraft, EADS Space Transportation will be responsible for defining re-entry systems and a ‘Mars Ascent Vehicle’ – a small rocket to carry the precious sample up through the Martian atmosphere.
February 5th, 2004
ESA and NASA in space race The Australian
Europe intends to go head to head with the US in a race to capture a piece of Mars and bring it back to Earth in the next chapter of the search for life on the Red Planet. A European mission to scoop up half a kilogram of Martian rocks and carry them home for analysis will blast off in 2011, European Space Agency officials have announced. While the two space agencies prefer to be seen as partners, their increasing emphasis on Mars exploration is inevitably lending an edge of rivalry to their efforts.
December 23rd, 2003
Phobos Soil Samples Planned To Be Brought To Earth In 2007 RIA Novosti
In 2007 an automatic space probe is going to bring to Earth soil samples from Martian satellite Phobos. Academician Erik Galimov said this on Tuesday at the sitting of the presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where problems and prospects of space research of the Moon and other planets were in discussion. Galimov said that the Phobos-Soil project, jointly with the Russian Space Agency (Rosaviakosmos), is the closest and so far only Russian project for the study of planets in the Solar system.