2 weeks ago
NASA selected 9 companies to create 4 systems that will alteration aggregate missions to Mars complete nan adjacent 2 decades and supply a continual travel of samples for laboratory study connected Earth. Photo by NASA/U.S. Geological Survey
May 1 (UPI) -- Officials pinch nan National Aeronautics and Space Administration will salary 9 companies betwixt $200,000 and $300,000 each to behaviour a twelve tests to support early missions to Mars.
"We're successful an breathtaking caller era of abstraction exploration, pinch accelerated maturation of commercialized liking and capabilities, Eric Ianson, NASA Mars Exploration Program director, said successful an online announcement Wednesday.
"Now is nan correct clip for NASA to statesman looking a really public-private partnerships could support subject astatine Mars successful nan coming decades," Ianson said.
The tests are portion of NASA's Mars Exploration Commercial Services studies to support its Mars Exploration Program, which is slated to nonstop missions to Mars complete nan adjacent 20 years.
The studies are divided among 4 categories.
NASA chose Lockheed Martin to accommodate a lunar-exploration spacecraft, Impulse Space to accommodate an Earth-vicinity orbital transportation conveyance and Firefly Aerospace to accommodate a lunar-exploration spacecraft.
Those 3 companies will thief NASA create mini payload transportation and hosting services.
United Launch Services will modify an Earth-vicinity cryogenic precocious stage, and Blue Origin will accommodate an Earth- and lunar-vicinity spacecraft. Astrobotic Technology will modify a lunar-exploration spacecraft.
Those efforts are portion of nan Mars Exploration Program's ample payload present and hosting services.
Albedo Space Corp. will accommodate a low-Earth-orbit imaging satellite, and Redwire Space will modify a commercialized imaging spacecraft. Astrobotic Technology will modify a lunar exploration spacecraft to alteration imaging.
Those efforts will support Mars surface-imaging services.
SpaceX will accommodate Earth-orbit connection satellites for Mars, and Lockheed Martin will modify a Mars orbiter to enactment arsenic a communications relay service. Blue Origin will accommodate an Earth- and lunar-vicinity spacecraft to supply nan connection relay services.
Those technological developments will support NASA's next-generation relay services for nan Mars Exploration Program.
The twelve studies will return astir 12 weeks to complete and are slated to extremity successful August. NASA will people a summary of each study later this year.
NASA officials chose nan companies conducting nan studies aft posting requests for proposals connected Jan. 29.
NASA besides is seeking manufacture proposals for its Mars Sample Return run to return samples collected by its Perseverance rover to Earth for laboratory analysis.
The Mars Exploration Program's extremity is to supply a continual travel of technological find and accusation utilizing robotic orbiters, landers and mobile laboratories connected by a high-bandwidth Mars-Earth communications network.
