From Returning Samples to Returning Humans: Evolution of Mars Landing and Ascent Vehicles

NASA plans are for supporting astronauts to explore Mars starting in the late 2030s or early 2040s and return. Brought to the surface by a lander, a massive Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) or rocket, fueled from a pre-existing surface in situ resource extraction system, must have the capability of transporting astronauts (4 to 6 in number) from the surface into a High Mars orbit (HMO), allowing them to rendezvous with an orbiting spacecraft for their journey back to Earth. To create a MAV with this type of capability, a rigorous flight test program must be put in place that includes landing large supporting systems. In a similar way NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) has been developing several architectures for Mars Sample Return (MSR). The current NASA architecture for returning Mars samples created by the Perseverance Rover consists of a complex series of mission launches and international mission responsibilities. Originally estimated to cost about $5.3 billion, an independent review revised that total upward to $10 billion or more, with a launch date in 2030 at the earliest. The Administration in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal to Congress stated that it should: “terminate [the] unaffordable … Mars Sample Return mission that is grossly over budget and whose goals would be achieved by human missions to Mars.” By linking sample return to human exploration, new options or opportunities may be realized. Before a human rated MAV is accomplished, many test and operational flights of landed systems must be performed which opens the opportunity for newly collected samples or Perseverance acquired samples to be a payload to be returned. This paper outlines a strategy of connecting planetary science and human exploration systems that are needed to support the evolution of Mars landing and ascent vehicles meeting both science and human exploration objectives.