R
robnissen
Guest
Space. com has an article promoting a Martian sample return mission. While I would love for NASA to do a sample return misstion, is it really necessary? It seems to me, that it would be much cheaper to fly a fully equipped lab to Mars, then to leave the lab on Earth and bring the samples back to the lab. I would assume if you gave Jon Clarke a lab on Mars that he could test samples on via robotically controlled equipment, he could do almost as much science as if the samples were on Earth. Now, I realize that the bigger the lab, the more expensive it would be take to Mars, but a one-way trip for the lab, must be a LOT cheaper, than a round trip for the samples. Am I missing something? For example, are there important tests that can only be done on Earth because the equipment is just too bulky to put in a martian lander. I have wondered about this for a long time and would appreciate any comments that people might have.