Main Engine Cut OffPotential Mars 2020 Sample Return Mission Profile
Hidden in this article about the Mars 2020 budget is a piece about a potential sample return mission that I find particularly interesting:
However, returning the samples to Earth would likely require two additional missions: one to land on Mars, take the samples collected by Mars 2020, and launch them into Mars orbit; and another to collect the sample canister in Mars orbit and return it to Earth.
Mars orbit rendezvous is a pretty Rube Goldberg-ian way of handling a sample return mission. I much prefer the idea of using a modified Red Dragon as a missile silo of sorts that Larry Lemke of Ames proposed over two years ago, which would conclude with a rendezvous in Earth orbit instead.
The idea of using Mars orbit rendezvous for sample return makes sense once you get to the next sentence of the article:
That would require the use of a large solar electric propulsion system like the one NASA is proposing for use on its Asteroid Redirect Mission.
As I talked about on this week’s episode of the podcast, this is yet another example of coming up with rationales to explain why the asteroid mission is on the critical path for getting humans to Mars.