Space

7486 readers

1 users here now

News and findings about our cosmos.

Subcommunity of Science

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 3 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Mars Sample Return Scientifically Critical, But Eye-Poppingly Expensive (spacepolicyonline.com)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

11 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Didn't the latest stuff sent up there have the ability to analyze samples on the spot? Why do they want to send samples back?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I suspect a full-scale lab is a little more capable than a pocket lab bolted on a rover

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I think a real key will be getting geologists on the ground there. The productivity comparison is something crazy, like, an astronaut could do a few years of rover work in a week.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Wow, a bigger gap than I would have guessed.