ERO, - the very first spacecraft that will bring samples to Earth from Mars developed by Airbus on behalf of NASA.

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Airbus

  • By 2031, Martian rocks are expected to be brought back to Earth.

  • As part of this mission, fruit of a partnership with NASA, the European Space Agency has just signed a contract with Airbus of 491 million euros.

  • The European space company will develop in Toulouse the probe which will recover samples of Martian rock from orbit to bring them back to Earth.

The astronauts who were lucky enough to walk on the moon did not return empty-handed.

In their luggage they brought back 382 kg of moon rock, enough to give work to scientists.

In recent years, most eyes have been on Mars.

But if Curiosity blows up the rock of the red planet and analyzes it from a distance, the precious pieces have never been brought back here.

Only a few have been recovered from collisions with meteorites, when they tear off and eject from Martian soil.

The European Space Agency has decided not to wait any longer for them to fall from the sky and to go directly to look for them there, and especially to bring them back.

Airbus selected by @esa to design and build ERO (Earth Return Orbiter), the first ever spacecraft to bring samples back to Earth from Mars!

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🔗 https://t.co/1BJ7TMzM3G#SpaceMatters #ToMarsAndBack #ExploreFarther #MarsSampleReturn pic.twitter.com/CG45XDoNOy

- Airbus Space (@AirbusSpace) October 14, 2020

Campaign called 

Mars Sample Return

And to achieve this, it has just signed a mega contract of 491 million euros with Airbus Space as part of the international campaign for the return of samples from Mars called

Mars Sample Return

, in association with NASA.

The European company is responsible for developing the rover which will collect the samples taken from Mars by the Perseverance rover, which left this summer, but also the ERO probe - Earth Return Orbiter - which will bring the famous samples back to Earth in 2031 after having recovered them. in orbit.

Departure in 2026

In 2026, the six-ton, six-meter-high spacecraft will take off aboard Ariane 6, before entering orbit of Mars a year later.

In six years, another spacecraft will also take off.

The latter will drop the rover, developed by Airbus, which will be responsible for collecting the samples from Mars 2020, as well as a small rocket on the red planet.

It is thanks to the latter that the pieces of Martian soil will be propelled into orbit in a container, normally in 2028. There, in a "touchdown" fashion, the ERO spacecraft will be positioned to recover this object the size of a balloon. of basket ball.

All this managed remotely, more than 50 million km from ground control.

Once warm and protected in a confined system, the small pebbles will begin their year-long journey back to Earth.

Once arrived at its destination, the capsule will be dropped on the floor of the cows, more precisely the Utah desert, around 2031. And its contents will go directly to a laboratory specially designed to avoid any risk of contamination.

"An extraordinary achievement"

"Bringing samples back to Earth from Mars will be an extraordinary feat, taking interplanetary science to a new level and Airbus is delighted to meet this challenge as part of this joint international mission", explained Jean-Marc Nasr, the manager. of Airbus Space Systems.

The studies for the realization of the ERO spacecraft have already started, its development will be done on the Toulouse site of Airbus and the analysis of the mission in Stevenage, England.

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