Airbus tapped to design Fetch Mars rover

[Judi Lynn]

SPACE
David Szondy
an hour ago

A mission to return samples from Mars isn't of much use if they don't actually return, which is why ESA is working on a new robotic rover to retrieve containers of Martian rock and soil left behind by NASA's Mars 2020 rover. ESA has now awarded the initial £3.9 million (US$5.2 million) contract to design the new Fetch rover to Airbus, which will undertake the study in Stevenage, England.

One thing very high on the bucket list of any space scientist is getting one's hands on a sample of Martian soil. Unfortunately, that's one of those things that's easier said than done. Just getting to Mars is still one of the most challenging of space missions, but collecting samples and then returning them to Earth is a quantum leap of complexity.

It is in fact three separate missions that all depend on one another. The first will be NASA's Mars 2020 rover, which is scheduled to lift off in July 2020 atop an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral. This unmanned nuclear-powered explorer will roam over the Martian landscape much like the Curiosity rover that it's based on. The difference is that where Curiosity does all its analysis using its onboard laboratories, Mars 2020 will collect samples and drop them along the way inside of 36 pen-sized metal containers.

The second mission, ESA's Fetch, launches in 2026 and is tasked with retracing Mars 2020's path and collect these sample containers, which it will be placed inside a "box of delights." Fetch will then return to its lander, which has a cylinder attached to it that contains a Mars Ascent Vehicle. After the box is installed in the rocket, the latter will blast off into orbit around Mars.

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https://newatlas.com/britain-to-design-fetch-mars-rover/55351/