Tesla’s Cybertruck may seem unwieldy on Earth, but a pressurized version of this vehicle might be perfect for collecting Martian rock and soil samples to bring back to Earth. This is one of the innovative ideas discussed during the recent Mars Society convention in Seattle, organized by a nonprofit advocacy group.
According to mission plans proposed by Mars Society co-founder Robert Zubrin, retired NASA engineer Tony Muscatello, and business analyst Kent Nebergall, robotically controlled Cybertrucks could be part of a Mars exploration system that also includes SpaceX’s Starship super-rocket, all-terrain vehicles, and humanoid robots built by Tesla.
Zubrin mentioned that the Starship-based plan could even speed up progress towards crewed missions to Mars.
“We use Starship to deliver a robotic expedition that has already examined thousands of samples on Mars, gathered from hundreds of kilometers away by helicopters, and tens of kilometers away gathered by rovers, and then we land the crew to do follow-up exploration, including drilling in well-characterized sites to bring up water and see what the life on Mars is,” he said during a Thursday night session at the convention.
The concept may sound like science fiction, but at least some elements of the plan could theoretically be included in SpaceX’s strategy for reworking NASA’s Mars sample return plan.
NASA’s Perseverance rover has collected more than two dozen samples over the past three years, which will be picked up and returned in future missions. However, NASA acknowledged in April that its previous plan was unworkable. “An $11 billion budget is too expensive, and a 2040 return date is too far away,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
In June, NASA decided to explore alternative concepts for Mars sample return missions and funded concept studies by seven industry proposers, including SpaceX, which plans to propose using Starship. (Other proposers are Blue Origin, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Quantum Space, and Whittinghill Aerospace.)
Regarding Martian Cybertrucks, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, stated on his social media platform X in 2019 that a pressurized version of the Cybertruck would be the “official truck of Mars.” During Tesla’s 2022 AI Day presentation, engineers mentioned one of the test prompts for Dojo’s generative-AI capabilities was “Cybertruck on Mars,” suggesting Musk has given the idea some thought.
Muscatello told GeekWire that he’s shared his Starship and Cybertruck plan with a contact at SpaceX, but he’s unsure if it will be included in SpaceX’s report to NASA. “They’re welcome to it,” he said.
The 90-day concept studies are due this fall. “We’ll assess the timeline depending on what we see in the reports,” said Tiffany Morgan, deputy director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters, during a Friday session. “We want something that is reduced risk, but reduced price.”
It is not certain how much of SpaceX’s specific proposal will be made public after being submitted to NASA, but Morgan expressed interest. “That sounds awesome,” she said when informed about the Cybertruck idea. “I haven’t heard that one before. I would like to get a copy of that paper, because that sounds so intriguing.”
Mini Wadhwa, a planetary scientist at Arizona State University and a principal scientist for the Mars sample return campaign, also found the idea of Cybertrucks on Mars intriguing but favored a more conventional method initially. “Probably for the first time around, it would be great to just bring the samples back,” she said.
A Commercial Role on Mars
In addition to exploring new procedures for returning Martian samples, NASA is funding a dozen industry studies to evaluate how commercial services could support Mars missions.
One study focuses on adapting SpaceX’s Starlink satellite technology for a Martian communication network. Two other studies are examining how Blue Origin’s Blue Ring orbital transfer vehicle could be adapted for Mars-bound payloads and communication relay services.
NASA’s Mars Exploration Commercial Services program could be modeled after the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
“I have heard a lot of people talk about a ‘Mars CLPS’ program,” Morgan said. “These studies are investigating whether that’s feasible, whether there’s enough interest at the surface of Mars. It certainly seems like there’s more interest than ever before. But is there as much as there is at the moon? That’s what these studies aim to determine.”
Similar to the sample return studies, the early-stage “Mars CLPS” studies are nearing completion. NASA plans to release summaries of these studies later this year.
When Will NASA Send Humans?
As for crewed missions to Mars, NASA is currently focused on the Artemis program, aiming to send astronauts to the moon’s surface starting as early as 2026. Mission planners say that Artemis is designed to pave the way for Mars missions.
“We’ve been studying Mars architecture for over 50 years now — many different studies, many different ways to send humans to Mars. At some point, we need to make strategic decisions on key aspects,” said Patrick Chai, deputy Mars architecture lead in NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. Chai mentioned that the next set of architecture definition documents, known as “Rev B,” is expected around January.
Meanwhile, Zubrin and the Mars Society are advocating for faster progress on crewed missions to Mars. Zubrin intends to draft a bill for Congress that would require NASA to present a plan to send humans to Mars and begin crewed exploration within ten years.
“The bill does not require Congress to appropriate money,” Zubrin said at a Saturday night banquet. “It requires NASA to present an option. We want Mars Society chapters or individuals nationwide to show the bill to their congressmen and seek co-sponsors.”
Zubrin argued that such a program would help answer significant questions about life on Mars and prepare for human settlement. Additionally, given the usually bipartisan support for space exploration, Zubrin sees another potential benefit.
“It also may help heal the extremely toxic partisan rift currently tearing this country apart — and that must be cured,” he said.
