Mars-Grunt, also known as Expedition-M (russian: link=no, Марс-Грунт), is a robotic spacecraft

sample return mission A sample-return mission is a spacecraft mission to collect and return samples from an extraterrestrial location to Earth for analysis. Sample-return missions may bring back merely atoms and molecules or a deposit of complex compounds such as lo ...

proposed to be sent to

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

in mid-2020s. It was proposed to the

Russian Federal Space Agency The State Space Corporation "Roscosmos" (russian: Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности «Роскосмос»), commonly known simply as Roscosmos (russian: Роскосмос) ...

(Roscosmos) by the

Russian Space Research Institute The Russian Space Research Institute (russian: Институт космических исследований Российской академии наук, Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, SRI RAS, Russian abbrevia ...

Lander

If funded by the Russian space agency

Roscosmos The State Space Corporation "Roscosmos" (russian: Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности «Роскосмос»), commonly known simply as Roscosmos (russian: Роскосмос) ...

, it would be developed by the

and

NPO Lavochkin NPO Lavochkin (russian: НПО Лавочкина, OKB-301, also called Lavochkin Research and Production Association or shortly Lavochkin Association, LA) is a Russian aerospace company. It is a major player in the Russian space program, being th ...

, based on

Fobos-Grunt Fobos-Grunt or Phobos-Grunt (russian: link=no, Фобос-Грунт, where ''грунт'' refers to the ''ground'' in the narrow geological meaning of any type of soil or rock exposed on the surface) was an attempted Russian sample return mis ...

technology. Designs show a dome-shaped lander would separate from the orbiter and would enter the

Martian atmosphere The atmosphere of Mars is the layer of gases surrounding Mars. It is primarily composed of carbon dioxide (95%), molecular nitrogen (2.8%), and argon (2%). It also contains trace levels of water vapor, oxygen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and no ...

protected within an inflatable rubber braking cone and fire

retrorocket A retrorocket (short for ''retrograde rocket'') is a rocket engine providing thrust opposing the motion of a vehicle, thereby causing it to decelerate. They have mostly been used in spacecraft, with more limited use in short-runway aircraft land ...

s for a

soft landing Soft landing may refer to: *Soft landing (aeronautics) A soft landing is any type of aircraft, rocket or spacecraft landing that does not result in significant damage to or destruction of the vehicle or its payload, as opposed to a hard la ...

. Once a robotic arm selects and retrieves the samples (mass about ), a small rocket in the top of the lander would blast the ascent vehicle for rendezvous and docking with the

orbiter A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to spaceflight, fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including Telecommunications, communications, Earth observation satellite, Earth ...

for the soil sample transfer into the return vehicle.

Cruise stage

The cruise stage PM (from ''Pereletny Modul'' russian: link=no, Перелётный Модуль) is sometimes referred to as ''Flagman''. It was developed for the

mission, but its basic architecture is promised to be the base for a whole generation of future planetary missions, including

Luna-Glob Luna-Glob (russian: Луна-Глоб, meaning ''Lunar sphere'') is a Moon exploration programme by Roscosmos meant to progress toward the creation of a fully robotic lunar base. When completed, the programme will continue with crewed lunar miss ...

, Luna-Resurs and Luna-Grunt to the Moon;

Venera-D Venera-D (russian: Венера-Д, ) is a proposed Russian space mission to Venus that would include an orbiter and a lander to be launched in 2029. The orbiter's prime objective is to perform observations with the use of a radar. The lander, ba ...

to Venus; Mars-NET and Mars-Grunt to Mars and, possibly, Sokol-Laplas to Jupiter. The platform's developer -

- stressed that in different configuration, the same bus could be adapted as an orbiter or as a lander.

Status

If the technology being developed for Luna Glob to the Moon, and Fobos-Grunt 2 to Mars' moon Phobos, is proved successful, it will then be used on Mars-Grunt.Mars Sample Return - Russia
Anatoly Zak and Alain Chabot. ''Russian Space Web''. May 4, 2017.

References

{{Russian space program Proposed space probes Missions to Mars Russian space probes Sample return missions 2025 in spaceflight

Lander

Cruise stage

Status

See also

References