Apr. 21 - EREMS contributes to the Mars Sample Return-program

The Perseverance rover landed successfully on the planet Mars, last March, thus marking a promising future for the three-step “Mars Sample Return”-program. The aim of this program is to bring back on Earth samples (and data) from the Red Planet.

The first step was a real achievement as the NASA-designed rover strolled on Mars’ surface and took very surprizing shots. After probing the planet’s regolith, the little space engine will collect samples to be stored in small containers in order for a second rover (designed, this time, by ESA) to pick them up during the second step of the MSR-Program.

Still in the course of this second step, the ESA-rover will drive the samples to a platform specifically deployed where they will be encapsulated and sent to orbit Mars via a little rocket.  

During the third and last step,  the “Earth Return Orbiter” spacecraft will collect the gravitating capsule to bring it back to Earth. EREMS holds a major role in this last phase by taking the responsibility of the design and development of the Remote Interface Unit, which controls all the avionic interfaces of the spacecraft.