by adjusting its orbit, then finally bring it
in on board.’
Beyond the key elements of the sample
return mission, Bridges said the UK
could also play a major part in the
analysis of the samples once they arrive
back on Earth, with its world-leading
expertise in space science making it a
prime candidate for one of two planned
sample return facilities.
A big issue will be ensuring any
facility is secure enough to prevent any
bugs or microbes that may inhabit the
Martian rock from escaping and
contaminating the Earth. But Bridges
played down those fears, claiming
the scientific benefits will far
outweigh the risks of interplanetary
infection.
He said the chief scientific advantage
of bringing samples back to Earth is
that they can be subjected to tests
that are beyond the capability of in-situ
robotic probes.
‘We will be able to use the most
sophisticated instrumentation available.
Even with improvements in robotic
missions you’re not going to get to, for
instance, the fullest characterisation of
organic components,’ he said.
‘What you might call bread-and-butter
stuff in terrestrial labs, like looking at the
texture of rocks, is incredibly difficult
to do robotically because you need to cut
The red planet,
above, may reveal
secrets of the
Earth’s evolution
when scientists
attempt to collect
rock using a rover,
ascent vehicle
and orbiter
launched by
rocket
up rocks, slice them and carry out
micron- scale mineral analysis.’
Bridges said such tests will enable
scientists to learn about the mantle and
crust evolution of Mars, which could
shed light on our planet’s evolution.
But to reap these scientific rewards,
all involved in the mission will have to
ensure that a project involving dozens
of robotic systems, and a loose-knit
alliance of countries not always used to
working together, operates without a
single error over its five-year lifespan.
If they can pull it off, it will be as
much of a triumph for international
collaboration as it will for robotic space
exploration. Astrium’s Cordey said:
the EnGIneeR 18–31 AUGUST 2008 27
‘There are many areas that need to be
examined in detail in order to come up
with a design that will actually work —
how the temperature of the fuel
behaves on the surface of Mars, the
need for autonomy in a rover, the
fact that we will need it to cover
significant distances — the overall
scale is mind-boggling.
‘A mission like this has many
elements and we have to ensure that
when they’re behaving as an end-to-end
system the likelihood of them all
working together is sufficiently high
that an overall mission success is
guaranteed.
‘This mission will involve a
sequence of robotic activities: gather-
ing a sample, manipulating a sample,
launching a sample, rendezvousing
with the sample, manipulating it again
on a spacecraft and bringing it back to
Earth. What we have to do is to really
get a grip on the best way to ensure
overall mission success.’
Bridges is confident that despite this
level of complexity, the desire of all
involved to make it happen is the best
guarantee of success. ‘It’s a high-
priority mission — it chimes exactly
with what NASA, ESA and many UK
scientists and engineers want to do. It’s
going to be a long process, but the signs
are encouraging.’
SPACE EXPLORATION
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