Energy News  
MARSDAILY
Airbus wins next study contract for Martian Sample Fetch Rover
by Staff Writers
Stevenage UK (SPX) Jun 17, 2020

An artist's impression of ESA's Sample Fetch Rover collecting a Mars sample capsule that is part of the Mars Sample Return series of missions. Video: Sample Fetch Rover for Mars Sample Return campaign

Airbus Defence and Space has won the next phase of the study contract (Advanced B2) from the European Space Agency (ESA) for the advanced Sample Fetch Rover which will be used to collect samples from the surface of Mars.

Mars Sample Return is a joint NASA and ESA campaign to return samples from the Red Planet. NASA's 2020 Mars rover mission Perseverance will collect Martian soils and rock samples and leave them on the surface in small metal tubes.

In 2026 NASA will launch an ESA rover to Mars to collect these tubes. Landing in 2028, the rover will then travel an average of 200 metres a day, over a period of six months to find and pick up the samples.

It will collect up to 36 tubes, carry them back to the lander and place them in a Mars Ascent Vehicle which will launch them into orbit around Mars. Another spacecraft developed by ESA (with a Nasa payload), the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO), will collect the samples from Martian orbit and return them to Earth.

Airbus in Stevenage is leading the Sample Fetch Rover project, following the completion of the ESA ExoMars rover which is now due to launch in the summer of 2022. The initial phase A and subsequent B1 studies for the Sample Fetch Rover have been underway at Airbus in Stevenage since July 2018.

Sophisticated algorithms for spotting the sample tubes on the Martian surface have already been developed by the industrial team led by Airbus, and a dedicated robotic arm with a grasping unit to pick up the tubes is being designed with a pool of European industries.

The accommodation on the NASA lander and the MSR surface mission profile impose new requirements to the SFR locomotion system, which will be equipped with four wheels, larger than the six flexible wheels used on the ExoMars Rover.

Type, size and number of wheels has been chosen to better cope with the selected landing site terrain and with the speed and performance required to reach the depot location and return the samples in due time to the lander.

Unlike the ExoMars rover Rosalind Franklin, which has six wheels, the Sample Fetch Rover will only have four wheels. This is in order to save mass and complexity - but it also presents challenges as the rover has to move more quickly than ExoMars and yet not get stuck on its journey across the surface.

The Sample Fetch Rover is required to travel more than 15km across the Red Planet searching and collect up to 36 of the 43 sample tubes left by the Perseverance rover. The samples are due to land back on Earth in 2031.

The latest approval for the Mars Sample Return campaign was given by ESA at its Ministerial meeting in November 2019.


Related Links
Martian Sample Fetch Rover
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


MARSDAILY
ExoMars spots unique green glow at the Red Planet
Paris (ESA) Jun 16, 2020
ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has detected glowing green oxygen in Mars' atmosphere - the first time that this emission has been seen around a planet other than Earth. On Earth, glowing oxygen is produced during polar auroras when energetic electrons from interplanetary space hit the upper atmosphere. This oxygen-driven emission of light gives polar auroras their beautiful and characteristic green hue. The aurora, however, is just one way in which planetary atmospheres light up. The atmosp ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

MARSDAILY
Low-carbon ships not enough to erase shipping industry's carbon footprint

Euro top currency for 'green' bonds: ECB

UK electricity plant nears full switch away from coal

World needs 'green recovery', health pros tell G20 leaders

MARSDAILY
Spontaneous formation of nanoscale hollow structures could boost battery storage

Researchers advance fuel cell technology

New material, modeling methods promise advances in energy storage

An unusual choice of material yields incredibly long-lasting batteries

MARSDAILY
US wind plants show relatively low levels of performance decline as they age

Wave, wind and PV: The world's first floating Ocean Hybrid Platform

Supercomputing future wind power rise

Wind energy expansion would have $27 billion economic impact

MARSDAILY
Renewables booming but not enough to meet climate targets: UN

Adani Green Energy wins the world's largest solar deal

Nature provides roadmap to potential breakthroughs in solar energy technology

Aberdeen Standard Investments and R.POWER set a new record with the largest solar transaction in Poland

MARSDAILY
Framatome completes modernization project at Doel nuclear power plant

South Africa revives idea of new civilian nuclear program

GE Hitachi awarded long-term outage services contract by TVO

Steel Guard Safety expands product lines for radiation shielding in nuclear power plants

MARSDAILY
Water vapor in the atmosphere may be prime renewable energy source

Engineers find neat way to turn waste carbon dioxide into useful material

ETW Energietechnik supplies the biomethane upgrading technology for a 45 km biogas grid

Renewable fuel from carbon dioxide with the aid of solar energy

MARSDAILY
NGO accuses France of starting Mozambique 'climate bomb'

Two dead as fire rages after India gas well blowout

Turkey blocked EU embargo check on ship near Libya

Thousands more evacuated from site of Indian oil-well blast

MARSDAILY
Simba CubeSat to swivel from Earth to Sun to help track climate change

A world redrawn: Worry about climate not COVID, says James 'Gaia' Lovelock

Warmest May on record, Siberia 10C hotter

Reflecting sunlight to cool the planet will cause other global changes









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.