Mars Ascent Vehicle needs a Sustained Development Effort, Regardless of Sample Return Mission Timelines
Whitepaper #394 submitted to the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032. Topics: Mars; other science themes: Mars Sample Return; technology development
by John Whitehead
Published onMar 18, 2021
Mars Ascent Vehicle needs a Sustained Development Effort, Regardless of Sample Return Mission Timelines
The main point of this white paper is that that developing a Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) is a huge technology challenge that needs a sustained rocket engineering effort, even if plans for Mars Sample Return (MSR) happen to slip further into the future.