Produced by: Tarun Mishra
Credit: ESA
The European Space Agency (ESA) is progressing with its Earth Return Orbiter (ERO) for the Mars Sample Return mission, despite NASA's budgetary challenges.
Credit: ESA
ERO is designed to transport samples collected by NASA's Perseverance rover from Mars back to Earth, crucially catching a capsule in Martian orbit and returning it to our planet.
The spacecraft has successfully passed its design review, validating its technical details and allowing the project to move on to the manufacturing and testing phases.
Credit: ESA
"A robust design is the foundation for building, testing, and assembling the hardware into a complete spacecraft," said Tiago Loureiro, ERO’s project team leader, emphasizing the importance of this milestone.
Credit: ESA
An engineering qualification model of the Remote Interface Unit (RIU) has been developed. This unit connects the spacecraft’s equipment, such as sensors and actuators, to the main computer, and is tested under harsh conditions.
Credit: ESA
From hundreds of millions of kilometers away, Earth-based teams will coordinate the complex maneuver of catching and returning the Mars sample, according to Orson Sutherland, ESA's Mars program manager.
Credit: ESA
NASA’s part of the mission, which involves transporting the sample on Mars and launching it into orbit with the Mars Ascent Vehicle, is under review due to its $11 billion budget being deemed too expensive.
NASA is considering design changes to reduce costs and has commissioned ten studies to explore more affordable alternatives for the Mars Sample Return mission.
ESA assures that ERO can adapt to any changes in the mission’s architecture, showcasing its flexibility and reliability as a partner for NASA.
Credit: ESA
"The Earth Return Orbiter works for what was planned to do and more," said Tiago, reaffirming ESA's commitment to the mission despite uncertainties, and its readiness to support any new scenarios that may arise.