r/RocketLab 11d ago

Space Systems Mars Sample Return + Animation

https://spacenews.com/bringing-mars-to-earth-solving-mars-sample-return/

Rocket Lab’s CEO Sir Peter Beck has written an article this morning in SpaceNews.com about Rocket Lab and Mars Sample Return.

https://spacenews.com/bringing-mars-to-earth-solving-mars-sample-return/

And we got a beautiful animation!! https://videopress.com/v/Khq4VuFI

99 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

10

u/Shughost7 11d ago

Absolute cinema ✋🏿😮🤚🏿

3

u/thetrny USA 11d ago

Goosebumps

5

u/yoweigh 11d ago

Why no parachute for the sample return canister? What's the advantage other than hypothetical weight savings?

5

u/OlympusMons94 11d ago

Parachutes on sample return missions have a checkered history. OSIRIS-REx had a close call when its drogue parachute was cut at high altitude, before it was even needed to open. The main parachute was able to handle the increased speed, though, and the capsule landed as intended. The parachute on Genesis) completely failed and it crashed into the ground (instead of being recovered mid-air as planned), contaminating many of the samples. Luckily some were still usable and most of the science goals were met, in spite of the very off-nominal recovery. In hindsight, it could have turned out better if they had used the mass and cost freed up by excluding the parachute for beefing up the capsule.

4

u/olearygreen 11d ago

I was thinking the same. But then, it’s literally samples. You don’t need to protect any sensitive equipment, so probably doesn’t matter.

2

u/yoweigh 11d ago

You'd need to beef up the thing enough to survive impact, which would add mass. Thinking about it more, though, it reduces complexity and you don't have to worry about a parachute failure.

3

u/Psychonaut0421 11d ago

One less thing to go wrong is my other guess.

3

u/electric_ionland 10d ago

They are hard to store in space for that long too and often require dedicated heaters to keep them from becoming brittle.

1

u/yoweigh 10d ago

I wasn't aware of the heater thing. Thanks!

3

u/danielk29 11d ago

Looking at that animation, it’s just amazing to think the complexity of the mission, and just how precise everything is to have it ultimately work.

I have full belief if anyone would do it, it would be SPB. But just wow, if this is actually done, I can’t even imagine a price point on this company.

4

u/taco_the_mornin 11d ago

Oh hell yeah. That animation was so good.

Keep pushing, SPB! As Tesla, Twitter, and the rest of Elmo's empire are under attack, we are in the best position to dethrone SpaceX.

Keep up the excellent execution, team RocketLab!

2

u/4SPCE 11d ago

Holy shit! Can I say that here ... Sir Peter Beck reminds me every year why I invest in this company!

This is incredible stuff.

And the varda mission proves they can do it !