A Look Back: Historic Aerodynamic Assessments for NASA’s Martian Ascent Rocket

A Look Back: Historic Aerodynamic Assessments for NASA’s Martian Ascent Rocket

This graphic presents NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) during its active propulsion stage. The MAV is engineered to carry cylinders filled with Martian geological samples into Martian orbit. Here, the Earth Return Orbiter spacecraft, designed by the European Space Agency (ESA), will encase them in a highly secure capsule for transport to Earth. Photo credit: NASA

The team responsible for the Mars Ascent Vehicle has successfully finalized key aerodynamic tests at a NASA installation, thereby setting the groundwork for Mars’ inaugural rocket launch. This collaborative project between NASA and ESA is targeted to transport Martian specimens back to Earth in the early part of the 2030s. The endeavor aims to deepen our understanding of Mars’s primordial history and any potential microbial existence.

The Mars Ascent Vehicle group concluded wind tunnel evaluations at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, a facility integral to NASA’s historical missions dating back to the Apollo era.

The very infrastructure that was instrumental for NASA’s ventures to low-Earth orbit and lunar expeditions is currently assisting in preparations to launch the maiden rocket from the Martian surface. The MAV is a vital element of the collective mission outlined by NASA and the European Space Agency to return select Martian samples to Earth within the first third of this century.

A miniature replica of the Mars Ascent Vehicle was positioned in the trisonic wind tunnel at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center by Wind Tunnel Test Engineer Sam Schmitz for evaluative purposes. The tunnel, measuring 14 inches square, has been employed to assess the configurations of various launch vehicles such as Artemis, Redstone, Jupiter-C, and Saturn. Photo credit: NASA/Jonathan Deal

Aerodynamic Properties and MAV’s Design

Annie Catherine Barnes, MAV’s lead in aeroacoustics who also acted as the co-lead for the July tests, mentioned that scale models were assessed from various orientations within the wind tunnel to study how airflow could potentially impact the MAV’s structural integrity. Barnes likened the airflow effects to the turbulence experienced in airplane travel.

During evaluations in the trisonic wind tunnel at Marshall, the test sections—each 14 inches in dimensions—could reach wind velocities of up to Mach 5. Photo credit: NASA

“We are examining zones of turbulent air circulation for the launch vehicles,” Barnes stated. “We are also focusing on shock oscillations and extensive regions of pressure variation that might provoke structural behavior.”

The acquired data from the July test series, coupled with additional analytical work, will contribute to a more refined estimation of conditions the MAV is likely to encounter as it becomes the first craft to initiate a launch from another celestial body.

This conceptual graphic illustrates a proposed NASA Sample Retrieval Lander. The lander would deliver a small rocket, the Mars Ascent Vehicle, measuring approximately 10 feet in height, to the Martian terrain. Once filled with sealed canisters housing Martian rocks and soil gathered by NASA’s Perseverance rover, the MAV would ascend into Martian orbit. These samples would subsequently be transported to Earth for exhaustive scrutiny. Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mission Aims and Collaborative Ventures

The MAV is aligned with the forthcoming Mars Sample Return initiative that aspires to bring scientifically curated samples to Earth for advanced analytical procedures across global laboratories. This key alliance with ESA is facilitating the development of both the requisite technology and the preliminary mission designs to achieve the historic return of samples from a foreign planet. Samples presently being gathered by NASA’s Perseverance rover during its survey of an archaic river delta could potentially unveil early Martian evolution, including signs of primordial microbial life.

Managed from Marshall, the MAV will undertake a two-year voyage to Mars aboard the Sample Retrieval Lander. It will stay on the Martian surface for nearly a year to collect samples obtained by Perseverance.

After the Sample Transfer Arm on the lander has inserted the samples into a canister within the rocket, the MAV will ascend from the Martian surface into orbit, where it will discharge the sample container for capture by the ESA-manufactured Earth Return Orbiter.

The targeted time frame for the samples to reach Earth is the early 2030s. The Mars Sample Return Program is overseen by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) located in Southern California.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Mars Ascent Vehicle

More about Mars Ascent Vehicle

• NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle Overview
• European Space Agency Mars Exploration
• Mars Sample Return Mission
• NASA’s Perseverance Rover
• NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Wind Tunnel Testing in Aerospace
• Marshall Space Flight Center
• Apollo Program History