Testing the Limits: NASA Drops Capsule From 1,200 Feet to Assess Mars Sample Return Mission

NASA drops capsule at 1,200 feet to test Mars Sample Return

NASA has a plan that is ambitious to bring back a piece from Mars to Earth to study. The Mars Sample Return Mission is a plan to send a robotic crew consisting of an ascent vehicle, a lander and a rover to Mars to collect samples that have been sealed into tubes by the Perseverance Rover. These samples will be taken off the Martian terrain and launched into orbit. They’ll then be collected and returned to Earth.

It is. NASA is developing some of the hardware needed for this long-term mission. Recently, the agency tested a new design for Earth Entry System vehicle that will transport the sample from the atmosphere to the surface. The agency’s test was dramatic, involving the dropping of a vehicle model from 1,200 feet to see if it would survive.

The areoshell of the vehicle was the focus of the test. It tested out a possible design that would protect the electronics and samples inside the shell from the heat and force generated by passing through Earth’s atmospheric. The test was conducted at the Utah Test and Training Range. A helicopter was used to ascend with a 1.25 meter wide model of the vehicle and its areoshell. It was covered in sensors. The helicopter dropped the MDU and recorded its descent. The MDU, which was dropped from 1,200 feet altitude, reached speeds that engineers would consider equivalent to those of a sample mission.

Source:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/news/nasa-msr-drop-test/