Beijing
China is on course to retrieve a can containing Martian rock samples and bring it back to Earth. Its grand plans include a lightweight device that will capture Martian rock samples in orbit. The mission is scheduled for 2028, earlier than previously envisaged. The previous timeline for the sample collection programme was 2031, but a few weeks back China announced it was pushing it up.
The Tianwen-3 Mars sample return programme will see two spacecraft being launched at two separate times. One of them would be a lander that would also act as an ascent spacecraft, while the other would be an orbiter that would bring the sample.
The device that will capture the can of samples weighs only 12 kg, according to researchers from the Institute of Aerospace System Engineering in Shanghai. The container itself would be about the size of a large coffee can.
The lander will go ahead first and collect the samples from the surface of Mars over several months. It will sort them and then send the can to the orbiter hovering above using an ascent craft that would be launched from the top of the lander.
The device will catch and secure the container, before transferring it into a storage vessel. The vessel containing the can will then detach from the spacecraft and bring it to Earth, researchers wrote in the journal China Space Science and Technology last month.
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The can will contain about 600 gm of Martian rocks, as per the mission's chief designer.
Mars sample retrieval device
The designers tested the device using a prototype to be sure that it worked. It was found to be able to adapt to different entry angles and positions to capture the container. The device also transferred the can into the storage vessel with ease, the researchers wrote.
The researchers further wrote that the "traditional docking and transfer mechanisms" are not being used for the mission since the "platform carrying the samples into orbit has a restricted mass capacity" because of the "limited power available for taking off from the Martian surface".
They added that the new design "offers advantages over similar Western systems" because of being more integrated and significantly lighter.
Senior Chinese space officials announced in September that the mission will bring back samples from the planet’s Utopia Planitia region, or other candidate sites. It will be launched in 2028, while the samples will be retrieved by 2031.