We finally know how NASA will launch a rocket from Mars, and plan is insane! WATCH

NASA, in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), is planning to bring rock and soil samples from Mars which the Perseverance rover has been collecting. According to the plan presented by NASA in July, the involved agencies are targeting 2033 when they would get their hands on the samples for their detailed analysis using advanced instruments. Called the Mars Sample Return Campaign, the plan includes sending an ESA-made orbiter and a retrieval lander carrying a rocket that would launch from Mars with the samples. 

Needless to say, this bold plan would require an extremely high degree of precision to launch a rocket on another planet for the first time in history. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) recently shared an animated video putting into perspective how the events of sample retrieval will unfold 84 million km away from Earth. 

Watch how a rocket would launch on Mars

The video begins with the touchdown of the Sample Retrieval Lander which will be launched in the summer of 2028 following the launch of an Earth Return Orbiter in the fall of 2027. This lander would contain the NASA-made rocket and a pair of helicopters as a backup measure to transfer Perseverance's rock samples into the lander. Once the samples are transferred into the lander, they will be loaded onto the rocket that will blast off to the Martian orbit. 

In the orbit, the rocket will rendezvous with the orbiter to bring it back to Earth safely and securely in 2033 if everything goes according to plan. NASA says that sample collection by Perseverance is central to the first step of the campaign and it began when the rover first collected the rocks in September 2021. Currently, Perseverance is exploring an area called the Lori Pass which is tantalising to scientists as they recently spotted a sandstone rock in this region which is composed of fine grains that have been carried from elsewhere by water. 

As of today, Perseverance has 14 rock-core samples, one atmospheric sample and three witness tubes, all of which are stored in the rover’s belly. After exploring the Lori Pass, it will drive 745 feet (227 meters) southeast to a mega sand ripple called “Observation Mountain” to collect its first samples of regolith, or crushed rock and dust.