Phoenix will be reborn – this time as a reality TV star. Mars One, a Dutch organisation based around the wacky idea of putting a human colony on the Red Planet and turning it into a TV show, says it will launch a copy of NASA's Phoenix Mars lander in 2018.
How the group will fund the robotic mission is unclear but if successful, it could be the first private venture to land on Mars.
The lander would be part of a precursor mission to lay the foundations for the Martian colonists, due to arrive in 2025. "The goal is to demonstrate a few of the technologies that we need for the manned mission," says Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp.
That means the non-profit organisation is already looking at its first delay. Mars One had originally said it would launch a robotic mission in 2016, before humans land in 2023.
Solar testing
Speaking on 10 December at the National Press Club in Washington DC, Lansdorp announced that the organisation has teamed up with spaceflight veteran Lockheed Martin, which designed the NASA lander, to build Mars One's version.
There will be a few tweaks. The original Phoenix spacecraft, which landed on Mars in 2008, used a robotic arm to scoop up and analyse soil. Mars One's lander will attempt to extract water from the surface and test flexible solar panels.
Mars One's plan includes a communications satellite, to be built by UK company Surrey Satellite Technology, that will relay live video feed of the planet's surface broadcast by the lander.
The Phoenix mission cost $475 million. It is unclear how much the clone will cost and how Mars One will pay for it and for the orbiter. Lansdorp says the organisation is in discussions with partners to fund specific components.
Mars One has also launched a crowdfunding campaign. But Lansdorp expects the Phoenix clone to be cheaper than the original as, unlike NASA, Mars One isn't starting from scratch. Lockheed Martin is already building a new version of Phoenix for NASA's 2016 InSight mission, which should bring down costs. "Mars One is going to be an easier customer to deal with because we require less paperwork," Lansdorp adds.
Optimistic launch date
So might the Mars One lander actually happen? "Landing on Mars is incredibly difficult, and I salute their ambition," says Bruce Banerdt, who leads NASA's InSight mission.
He points out that Lockheed Martin has the experience to land on Mars, so Mars One has a chance. "If Lockheed Martin commits to this project it will be difficult to dismiss it out of hand," Banerdt says.
However, he thinks that a 2018 launch is optimistic, given that InSight has been in development since 2010. He also says that Mars One will need space-agency expertise for other elements of the mission, from high-resolution images of landing sites to deep-space communications. Another planned private mission to Mars – Inspiration Mars – recently asked NASA for help with funding.
Lansdorp is prepared for teething problems, which he doesn't see as a deal-breaker. "If this mission isn't successful, we'll just send a copy two years later," he says.
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