Copyright © 2021 F.E. All rights reserved. * Cf., Note, infra.
(NASA, March 4, 2021)*
NASA has awarded a contract worth up to $84.5 million to send a vehicle to Mars that will return soil samples to earth.
Of course, if received on earth, the value of the samples would probably exceed the world’s most expensive artwork.
The most expensive artwork sold at auction, Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, sold for $450 million to a Saudi prince in 2017 . . . and now its whereabouts are unknown since January 9, 2019.
The NASA contract has been awarded to “Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation of Elkton, Maryland, to provide propulsion support and products for spaceflight missions at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.” *
The European Space Agency (ESA) will collaborate in the future expedition project that will follow landing the Perserverance Rover (2/18/21; cf., NASA’s Perseverance Rover Mars Landing ).
Mars exploration has a decades long history; and, NASA has educational material for teachers along with games for children accessible from sources listed below.
Decades ago NASA announced LIFE ON MARS based on microbiological sample experiments conducted on the “Red Planet” by the first rover.
Details on Mars explorations (Curiosity rover, Spirit and Opportunity, InSight lander, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN; and, Mars 2020 rover) are available from NASA [third link in * Sources below].
* Sources, copyright disclaimer:
NOTE: No copyright is claimed to material in the public domain, including but not limited to quoted material in NASA press release, links to NASA; and, images, if any. Nothing in this article is intended to express nor imply endorsement of JournalKentucky.com by NASA. Based on a press release, JK Editor rewrote this article for mass audience readability and our unique observations.
NASA Awards Mars Ascent Propulsion System Contract for Sample Return | NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-mars-ascent-propulsion-system-contract-for-sample-return
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Sends Sneak Peek of Mars Landing | NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-perseverance-rover-sends-sneak-peek-of-mars-landing
Mars exploration – https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/main/index.html
Salvador Mundi sold for $450 million – https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/01/the-mystery-of-salvator-mundi
