this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2024
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What spaceplane would be used? Dream Chaser? A new custom vehicle? Starship isn't really a spaceplane, but it might be able to offer a similar lower-g option.
If they’re going to “transfer to a space plane”, that to me sounds like a LEO rendezvous, so at that point why not just rendezvous with a crew/cargo dragon instead of designing a brand new spaceplane?
In order to get the samples inside Dragon, they would either need to bring a docking adapter or depressurize the cabin a la Polaris Dawn. Both options seem like a bit much, like using a limousine to transport packages. That being said, I'm not sure Dream Chaser has any unpressurized return capabilities either.
I've just remembered of another existing spaceplane. The X-37B has a 2.1 × 1.2 m payload bay, and a capacity of 227 kg. Would the military let NASA borrow one?
Good point, actually the X-37B would make a lot of sense: it’s uncrewed, can obviously be up for a long period of time (years), and can go to pretty high orbits as well on a Falcon Heavy, plus it has an arm right? So it’d just be a question of getting the USSF on board
Does it? I haven't seen many detailed photos of it. I wouldn't be surprised if it did though.
I did some research and couldn’t find any evidence that it does. That could be a capability that the Space Force doesn’t want to be public though
It looks like NASA has flown payloads onboard the X-37B before, so I think it is well within possibility that they could get some room on board for Mars samples during a return. They might not even need to "book" a whole flight as long as the mission has room/capacity for the samples aboard, and the sample container could probably hang out in a medium orbit for a while after getting back to Earth, awaiting an X-37B mission to come up at its own leisure since the orbiter could do all of the rendezvous maneuvering on its own