When we last visited Mars and its infant export economy, the Mars Perseverance Rover has collected and packaged four more rock samples on the planet's surface over the span of another Martian quarter.
We estimate the value of the samples collected during the fifth Martian quarter the rover has been on the Red Planet to be $395,544, the middle of a range that spans from $88,624 to $702,464. Through the five Martian quarters, some 23 samples have been collected in total with a combined estimated value of a little under $2.2 million. Since the end of that fifth quarter, one additional sample has been collected, so the total number of samples at this date is 24 samples in all.
As part of an initial plan to transport the collected samples to Earth, the rover has periodically deposited the samples at "depots" on Mars. The samples were to be picked up by later Mars exploration missions for export. Except that plan to send new probes and rockets to Mars to launch them to Earth has failed. That original plan proved to be both too complicated and too expensive to justify. That plan has been scrapped.
Scientists have been forced to go back to the drawing board to develop a new scheme for exporting the rock samples collected by the Mars Perseverance Rover to Earth. An official Request For Propopal for sample return missions was issued with new proposals due on 17 May 2024. The sample return mission may be significantly scaled back from the initial plan to return all samples, perhaps returning a fraction of the total number of samples collected and deposited for future export on Mars' surface. The new sample return plan is being developed to be practical.
The following table tallies the estimated value of Martian samples collected through the five quarters the Mars Perseverance Rover has functioned on the planet.
| Martian GDP Estimates (Constant 2021 U.S. Dollars) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martian Quarter | Martian Year 1 First Quarter |
Martian Year 1 Second Quarter |
Martian Year 1 Third Quarter |
Martian Year 1 Fourth Quarter |
Martian Year 2 First Quarter |
| Approximate Earthdates | 12 Jul 2021 - 31 Dec 2021 | 1 Jan 2022 - 21 Jun 2022 | 22 Jun 2022 - 11 Dec 2022 | 12 Dec 2022 - 30 May 2023 | 31 Dec 2023 - 18 Nov 2023 |
| Estimated GDP | $494,430 ($110,780 - $878,080) |
$296,658 ($66,468 - $526,848) |
$889,974 ($199,404 - $1,580,544) |
$98,886 ($22,156 - $175,616) |
$395,544 ($88,624 - $702,464) |
| Revision Level | Final | Final | Third | Second | Initial |
Previously on Political Calculations
- Meanwhile, on Mars...
- The Birth of the Martian Economy
- Mars Recovers from First Recessionary Event
- Mars' GDP Triples in Martian 3Q
- The Annual GDP of Mars After One Martian Year
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS. NASA's Perseverance Rover Completes Mars Sample Depot. [Photo]. 30 January 2023.