Fullerton geologist Dave Beaty, who helps manage the Mars Exploration Program, which will land a spacecraft in the red planet’s arctic region next month, is studying an even bolder idea for NASA:

A possible collaboration with other countries in making an unprecedented attempt to have a robotic spacecraft collect rocks and soil from the Martian surface and fly them back to Earth.

Apollo astronauts returned samples from the moon, and an American spacecraft grabbed specks of a comet that were also brought to Earth. But no one has returned material from Mars, the planet that scientists say may have had – or has – some primitive form of life.

The idea isn’t new; scientists have been talking about collecting samples of Mars for decades. But things are edging forward. NASA appointed Beaty – chief scientist for Mars exploration at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory – to co-lead an international committee to explore the idea of teaming up with other countries on the proposed Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission.

Beaty’s work has already led to a conceptual blueprint for such a venture, including specific scientific objectives, such as looking for precursors of life. The blueprint doesn’t formally spell out which country would do what. That requires long budgetary and scientific discussions by potential partners. But it does say that such a mission is doable, though extremely difficult. And it would cost far more than $1 billion.

“It’s not clear whether the U.S. could do MSR by itself because of the cost and the risk,” says Beaty, 54. “So we’re exploring the advantages of sharing the expense, as well as the value, as NASA has done with the International Space Station.

“Partnering with other countries has many potential benefits.
Scientists in Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia, and other countries are asking the same questions we are about whether life existed on Mars. We’re trying to collectively solve the question, ‘Are we alone?’ ”

NASA hasn’t given the MSR project the green light. But the space agency is considering launching the probe as early as 2020. The spacecraft would grab surface material, then send it back to Earth in a small vehicle that would land, without a parachute, in the Great Salt Lake of Utah. The return craft would be slowed by a special heat shield, and could carry a Martian payload that’s about the size of a cantaloupe.

“There are some engineers who believe this will be the most complex space mission that mankind has ever attempted,” Beaty says. “However, this is part of the excitement – we thrive on doing things that have never been done before.”

The potential payoff is mind-boggling.

“We could bring the power of the entire Earth’s laboratories to analyzing the samples,” says Beaty. “This is a long-term project. We’re talking about instruments that would be designed 10 years from now and used by people who haven’t even entered the field of science yet.”

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