ESA's Mars Sample Return Project Advances Despite NASA's Budget Challenges

TapTechNews July 10th news, although the Mars sample return mission partly taken charge by NASA has stalled due to budget issues, the European Space Agency (ESA) is still advancing its 'Earth Return Orbiter (ERO)' project, which is one of the key parts of the entire Mars sampling plan.

According to TapTechNews, ERO will be responsible for sending the Mars samples collected by NASA's Perseverance rover back to Earth. For this, it needs to rendezvous with the sample container in Mars orbit, capture this basketball-sized container, and finally bring it back to Earth.

The spacecraft has just passed the design review, which confirmed its technical details and allowed the project to enter the manufacturing and testing stage.

However, although the ESA's ERO project is progressing smoothly, the part taken charge by NASA - transporting the samples to the Martian surface and using a rocket called 'Mars Ascent Vehicle' to launch it into Mars orbit - is still under review as the $11 billion budget is considered too high. Therefore, this part of the plan may face a large number of design changes in the near future. In fact, NASA has recently commissioned ten research projects aiming to reduce the scale of the mission (and thus reduce costs).

But the ESA confirms that ERO can adapt to any changes in the Mars sample return mission. Tiago Loureiro, the project team leader, said: 'The configuration of the spacecraft is flexible enough to adjust according to the cargo and help find new implementation plans. The ESA and our industrial partners will adapt to the new scenario, remain innovative and resourceful, and still be a reliable partner of NASA. We have confirmed that regardless of the alternative plan, the Earth Return Orbiter can achieve the set goals and even do more.'