A Comparison Of Methods For The Mars Sample Return Mission

R. Zubrin. (1998), JBIS, 51, pp.116-120

Refcode: 1998.51.116

Abstract:

The Holy Grail of the robotic Mars exploration program is the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. In contrast to the limited capability offered by investigations performed on Mars, a sample returned to Earth could be subjected to thousands of different types of tests and investigations. For example, while the results of the Viking life detection experiments may still be regarded as contradictory and ambiguous, the return of such samples to terrestrial labs would have made possible a battery of tests and examinations that would have left no doubt in the interpretation of results. For these reasons, among others, NASA’s solar system exploration branch has penciled in a Mars Sample Return Mission (MSR) mission for 2005.