The Containment Assurance Risk Framework of the Mars Sample Return Program

• Activity Number: 493 - Uncertainty Quantification for the Mars Sample Return Mission
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Thursday, August 11, 2022 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Physical and Engineering Sciences
• Author(s): Giuseppe Cataldo* and Kevin Carpenter and Scott Perino and Aaron Siddens
• Companies: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

Abstract

The Mars Sample Return campaign aims at bringing rock and atmospheric samples from Mars to Earth through a series of robotic missions. These missions would collect the samples being cached and deposited on Martian soil by the Perseverance rover, place them in a container, and launch them into Martian orbit for subsequent capture by an orbiter that would bring them back. Given there exists a non-zero probability that the samples contain biological material, precautions are being taken to design systems that would break the chain of contact between Mars and Earth. These include techniques such as sterilization of Martian particles, redundant containment vessels, and a robust reentry capsule capable of accurate landings without a parachute. Requirements exist that the probability of loss of containment of Martian-contaminated material into Earth’s biosphere be less than one in a million. To demonstrate compliance with this strict requirement, a statistical framework was developed to assess the likelihood of containment loss posed by each sample return phase and make a statement about the total combined mission probability of loss of containment. The work presented here describes this