Mission Concept
Mars Sample Return, a joint campaign being planned by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), would be a multiple missions and components, with the goal of bringing Mars rock, loose surface material, and gas samples to Earth for detailed laboratory analysis.
Quick Facts
1. Interactions with Multiple Vehicles: The first time several vehicles (a lander, a rocket, and multiple helicopters) would land on the surface of Mars at the same time.
2. First Rocket Launch From Another Planet: First launch from the surface of another planet with the Mars Ascent Vehicle.
3. Seeking Ancient Answers: The delivery of the first set of carefully selected samples to Earth from a place known to be friendly to life in the distant past.
4. First Round-trip Mission to Another Planet: ESA's Earth Return Orbiter would be the first spacecraft to: make a roundtrip journey from Earth to Mars and back, bring back samples from Mars to Earth, and propel itself out of Mars orbit.
5. Earth Entry System Provides Free Fall Landing: The Earth Entry System would be the first sample return vehicle designed to complete a free fall landing (at approximately 90 mph [about 145 kph]). Mission engineers designed the spacecraft to land safely without a parachute.
A Team Effort
Mars Sample Return is a joint campaign being planned by NASA and the ESA (European Space Agency). Mars Sample Return would entail multiple missions and components, with the goal of bringing Mars rock, loose surface material, and gas samples to Earth for detailed laboratory analysis.
The Mars Perseverance rover is the first leg of this international, interplanetary relay team. Its job is to collect and cache samples on Mars. A Sample Retrieval Lander would land near or in Jezero Crater, bringing a small rocket on which the samples collected by Perseverance would be loaded. Once the sample cache is launched off the Red Planet, another spacecraft would capture it in Mars orbit, and then bring it to Earth safely.
These first collected and returned samples could answer a key question: Did life ever exist on Mars? Only by bringing the samples to Earth can we truly answer the question by using the most sophisticated, state-of-the-art labs, at a time when future generations can study them using techniques yet to be invented.
The Interplanetary Relay Team
Mars Perseverance Rover
The Mars Perseverance rover is the first leg of this international, interplanetary relay team. Its job is to collect and cache samples on Mars.
Sample Retrieval Lander
NASA's Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL) would be the first ever to bring along a rocket — NASA's Mars Ascent Vehicle, to help achieve the goal of bringing the samples safely to Earth for study.
Mars Ascent Vehicle
The Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) would be the first rocket ever to launch off the surface of another planet, and would transport the sample tubes containing Martian rock, atmosphere, and loose surface material into orbit around Mars.
Sample Recovery Helicopters
The Sample Recovery Helicopters (SRH) are modeled after the successful Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, carried to the Red Planet by NASA's Perseverance rover. These specialized rotorcraft would be a secondary method of sample retrieval for the campaign.
Earth Return Orbiter
The Earth Return Orbiter (ERO), provided by ESA, would be the first interplanetary spacecraft to capture an object in orbit around another planet and make a full round trip to Mars and back.
