NASA wants to bring a piece of Mars back to Earth. The idea is to send a robotic team consisting of a lander, rover, and an ascent vehicle to the red planet to pick up samples being collected and sealed in tubes by the Perseverance rover. The samples will be collected and brought back to Earth.
It is if that sounds complicated. NASA is working on some of the hardware required for this ambitious long-term mission, and recently tested out a new design for the Earth Entry System vehicle which will carry the sample through our planet's atmosphere and to the surface. It was a dramatic test, dropping a model of the vehicle from 1,200 feet to see if it survived.
The areoshell of the vehicle was the focus of the test, as it has to protect the delicate electronics and sample inside from the heat and forces of passing through Earth's atmosphere. The test was performed at the Utah Test and Training Range, where a helicopter ascended with a model of the vehicle and areoshell, that was covered in sensors and measures 1.25 meters across. The helicopter dropped the MDU and recorded its descent. Engineers think the MDU reached speeds that are equivalent to a sample landing mission.
The MDU was very stable during descent, and it survived impact without structural damage, according to Jim.
The MDU landing on its nose was a positive finding of the test, as the engineers hoped it would. Plans for the Earth Entry System can be continued with further tests to come later this year.
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