NASA wants to be the first to launch a rocket from another planet by 2026

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By Matthew Griffin Space 1st March 2022

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

So far noone has launched a rocket from anywhere other than Earth, and now NASA has plans to be the first to launch from another planet – Mars.

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It’s the year 2022, and science still hasn’t caught up to most of the things that sci-fi told us would be commonplace in the 21st century. No silver lamé clothes. And no spaceships routinely launching from other planets. However, it looks like we might have that last one becoming reality pretty soon after NASA has announced plans to launch samples from the surface of the planet Mars using a rocket which would officially make it the first-ever launch taking place from another world.

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According to SlashGear the Perseverance rover, which is currently rolling its way on the surface of the red planet, will collect samples as part of its mission before sealing them in a tube. Rather than bringing them back home to Earth, these tubes will stay on Mars. At least until a future rover collects them and takes them to a launch site. From there, it will rocket the samples into orbit. Afterward, a spacecraft grabs it and brings it back to Earth.

Lockheed Martin is helping NASA with this particular mission. The space agency recently awarded it a contract to build the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) carrying samples into orbit. Creating this MAV is proving to be quite the challenge, however. For starters, it has the basic obstacles of creating a vehicle that survives that brutal terrain of Mars. This includes the freezing temperatures and the constant dust storms. Not to mention the low amount of oxygen in the atmosphere. And the MAV needs to be small enough to fit into the Sample Retrieval Lander carrying it to Mars

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NASA and Lockheed hope to make the Mars launch happen by 2026, a mere four years away. Hopefully, this is all a big step in perfecting technology that will have actual humans set foot on Mars even though the dates for a manned NASA Mars mission keep getting pushed further and further back. But it will be a day that will, hopefully, unite humanity in a way we haven’t seen in decades, since the long-ago days of the Apollo missions.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.