NASA has tested engines for the first time to launch rockets from other planets - the new propulsion system will help conduct the Mars Sample Return mission and deliver soil samples to Earth

NASA has completed the first firing test of rocket engines that will be used in the Mars Sample Return mission to deliver Martian soil samples to Earth.

Here's What We Know

Northrop Grumman is building the SRM1 and SRM2 solid rocket motors for NASA. The first stage propulsion system will be equipped with frost-resistant nozzles. Specialists have conducted firing tests in a vacuum chamber at -20°C.

The engine of the second stage will rotate around its own axis. It is expected that this unusual solution will stabilise the flight to bring the rocket to the desired orbit.

The project is scheduled for defence in 2025. If everything goes according to plan, the Mars Sample Return mission will begin in 2028. The American company Lockheed Martin is engaged in the creation of the rocket.

Samples of Martian soil will be delivered to the rocket by the Perseverance rover. If the rover breaks down by then, its functions will be taken over by a new unmanned aerial vehicle resembling a robotic helicopter Ingenuity.

Source: NASA