NASA wants to perform the first-ever rocket launch from another planet - almost $ 200,000,000 has been allocated for this

NASA is seriously thinking about launching a rocket not from Earth. The agency has already secured a contract with Lockheed Martin worth almost $200,000,000 to achieve the goal.

What is known

The vehicle will be called the Mars Ascent Vehicle. As you guessed, it will go from Mars. NASA decided to combine business with pleasure, because. this will be the first ever launch from another planet, and along the way, the rocket will bring images of Martian soil to Earth.

Now the Perseverance drone is working on the Red Planet, which, with varying degrees of success, performs drilling and sample mining. NASA wants the rover to leave test tubes with the resulting material on the surface. Scientists plan to send another drone to Mars, which will collect all the test tubes and, together with the Mars Ascent Vehicle rocket, deliver them to our planet.

Perseverance

The lander will be sent to the Red Planet in 2026. Thus, NASA and Lockheed Martin have several years left to design, assemble and test the rocket. The $194,000,000 contract will begin this month. Of the problems that engineers will have to solve, they note extreme temperatures, dust and, in general, a different atmosphere of Mars.

A source: NASA