British scientists may be the first to dig up a piece of Mars rock and return it to Earth, under a new proposal that could leapfrog them ahead of NASA in the race to find signs of life at Mars.
The mission, which could launch in 2009 if approved by the European Space Agency (ESA), is designed to cost well under the $1 billion that NASA had allotted for a similar mission that presently is on indefinite hold.
"This is us saying, look, Mars is stuck in man's imagination for a long time and we actually do have the capability on Earth to answer these fundamental problems that puzzle people," said Colin Pillinger, a planetary scientist at the Open University (near London) who is heading up the
Costs for the sample-return mission would be cut to between $200 million and $600 million by dropping a probe somewhat larger than the 66-pound (30-kilogram) Beagle 2 indiscriminately to the surface, rather than sending rovers to specified sites as NASA previously proposed.
Pillinger and dozens of British scientists met last week to discuss the mission, which could yield answers to the question of life on Mars.
The probe would ride to Mars aboard a larger orbiter. Once at the Red Planet, the probe would be dropped through the atmosphere, slowed down by parachutes and cushioned on impact with the surface by airbags. An arm would drill down a yard (meter) or so for a 7-ounce (200-gram) core sample and place it in a canister.
A small rocket engine would then send the probe back into orbit. It would bleep for detection and undergo "laser-range control" retrieval by the orbiter. The orbiter would return to Earth within the next two years, when orbital mechanics were most favorable.
NASA had planned a series of missions designed to culminate in a lander that would launch in 2005 to collect rocks for return to Earth, but those plans were scrapped in the past two years as the agency reevaluated its Mars exploration plan in light of two mission failures.
Nearly unanimous vote
The British plan was hatched at a meeting of scientists at the Royal Society in London at which Pillinger challenged the group to conceive of a Mars sample-return mission that would launch in 2009.
"The technology people said that building on existing technologies we have for Beagle and considering what technologies we know are under development in Europe, then a 200-gram sample would be feasible as long as we were prepared to not have pinpoint accuracy for landing," he said.
Scientists in the group were amenable to that plan since they believe the Martian surface is a "regolith" comprised of soil grains from a wide variety of locations -- nearby rocks, sedimentary formations and materials moved by fluids, wind and impacts. A random sample would include plenty of interesting soil.
"So I put it to a vote -- either we try for a 200-gram sample of core in 2009 or wait a lot longer to get documented samples from individual sites by moving around on the surface. The vote was unanimous, except one person voted against," Pillinger said.
The meeting was timed to precede upcoming funding decisions by the British government and the ESA, as well as a meeting of the International Mars Working Group.
No one at the ESA could be reached immediately Tuesday to comment on the proposal, but Dave Southwood, the new director of science for the ESA, was in the audience at the Royal Society.
"He didn't walk out and laugh," Pillinger said.
advertisement
