Mars Sample Return
Mars Sample Return is a planned campaign to bring back rock cores collected by NASA's Perseverance rover.
Mars Sample Return is a proposed joint effort between NASA and the European Space Agency to bring rocks from Mars to Earth. NASA's Perseverance rover, which landed in Jezero crater in February 2021, has been drilling rock cores and sealing them in tubes, leaving some on the surface as a depot and keeping others on board.
The original plan involved a lander, a small rocket to launch the tubes into Mars orbit and an orbiter to carry them home. Rising costs and delays led NASA to review the plans from 2023 onwards, and the timing and design remain uncertain.
Such samples would complement the Martian meteorites. Meteorites come from unknown places on Mars and mostly from young volcanic rocks, while Perseverance's cores come from a known, ancient lake and river delta, chosen because it might preserve signs of past life. Studying them in Earth's laboratories would allow much more detailed analysis than any rover can manage.
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