As part of NASA’s ambitious Mars Sample Return (MSR) endeavor, work is ongoing to ensure the collection of Martian samples and their journey to Earth meet the required safety standards, agency officials said during a meeting last week (October 20).

NASA Mission Update

NASA has finished the system requirements review for its Mars Sample Return Program, which is nearing completion of the conceptual design phase. During this phase, the program team evaluated and refined the architecture to return the scientifically selected samples, which are currently in the collection process by NASA’s Perseverance rover in the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater.

The architecture for the campaign, which includes contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA), is expected to reduce the complexity of future missions and increase probability of success.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

If the Grand Canyon were an animal, it would probably be a mountain lion that waits patiently for its prey to arrive before ambushing it with overwhelming force.

That’s what it feels to visit the South Rim. There’s a long drive from Flagstaff through high plains and lightly forested areas as mountains tower in the distance. The scenery isn’t much different from most of Northern Arizona. After paying the fee at the entrance gate, you drive threw a forest where deer are quietly feeding. Find a parking space, walk down the trail, and…

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA is requesting public comment on the scope of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the agency’s proposed Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign. Comments will be accepted through the mail and online through Monday, May 16, 2022.

The agency also is hosting two virtual public meetings about the proposed program at 3 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, and 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 5, 2022, at:

https://jpl.webex.com/meet/msr

Eyeing some of the components that enabled the rover to get safely to the Martian surface could provide valuable insights for future missions.

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter recently surveyed both the parachute that helped the agency’s Perseverance rover land on Mars and the cone-shaped backshell that protected the rover in deep space and during its fiery descent toward the Martian surface on Feb. 18, 2021. Engineers with the Mars Sample Return program asked whether Ingenuity could provide this perspective. What resulted were 10 aerial color images taken April 19 during Ingenuity’s Flight 26.

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has captured dramatic footage of Phobos, Mars’ potato-shaped moon, crossing the face of the Sun. These observations can help scientists better understand the moon’s orbit and how its gravity pulls on the Martian surface, ultimately shaping the Red Planet’s crust and mantle.

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — With its recent 21st flight complete, the Red Planet rotorcraft is on its way to setting more records during its second year of operations.

Motiv and Blue Origin awarded DIU contract to develop modular and scalable space robotics

PASADENA, Calif. (Motiv Space PR) — Motiv Space Systems announced today it has been awarded a contract under the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU’s) Modularity for Space Systems Program (M4SS) together with sub-contractor Blue Origin. The contract leverages Motiv’s advanced space robotics technology to enable a new age of space utilization in which deployed spacecraft can be repaired, augmented, or modified to make them more resilient and modular.

WASHINGTON, DC (NASA PR) — NASA has awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin Space of Littleton, Colorado, to build the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), a small, lightweight rocket to launch rock, sediment, and atmospheric samples from the surface of the Red Planet. The award brings NASA a step closer to the first robotic round-trip to bring samples safely to Earth through the Mars Sample Return Program.

AUSTIN, Texas, January 31, 2022 (Institute of Space Commerce PR) — In the science fiction movie category, the Institute of Space Commerce (ISC) has the pleasure to announce “Don’t Look Up” as the best space motion picture entertainment of 2021.

“Dinosaurs became extinct because they didn’t have a space program, and if we become extinct because we don’t have a space program, it will serve us right.” quoted Larry Niven, renowned SciFi author and Patron of the Institute of Space Commerce.

“Don’t Look Up” showed us just that. Its exaggerated portrayal of human selfishness and ignorance against