Sample Collection for Investigation of Mars (SCIM): Mars Sample Return Within This Decade

The Sample Collection for Investigation of Mars (SCIM) mission is designed to (1) make a ~40 km altitude pass through the Martian atmosphere, (2) collect dust and atmospheric gas, and (3) return the samples to Earth for analysis. This Mars Scout mission concept is compelling because it will return a Martian sample to Earth within this decade without assuming the substantial risk, complexity, and cost of landing on and launching from the surface. Calculations indicate that an equatorial atmospheric pass at 40 km altitude near summer solstice, (Ls ~270+/-40) will allow a significant amount of dust to be collected. Mission calculations``flying'' a 100 cm2 collector through a model martian atmosphere shows that ~11 million particles >2μ m in diameter would be encountered. The size distribution of these particles is skewed towards the smallest sizes, but thousands of particles with diameters =10μ m should be encountered. Calculations show that the particles should reach the SCIM dust collector (an aerogel design broadly similar to Stardust) intact, and with relatively little heating. Unlike the Stardust encounter, the SCIM aeropass will impart significant heating on the spacecraft and sample collector, requiring special attention to its design. Detailed thermal modeling and testing of collector materials under realistic thermal loads suggest the collector can be engineered to survive the aeropass intact. The SCIM flight system is capable of launch in the 2007 opportunity. The atmospheric pass would take place in mid-2009, and the samples returned to Earth in 2010.