Mars sample-return mission

A Mars sample-return (MSR) mission is a proposed mission to collect rock and dust samples on Mars and return them to Earth. Such a mission would allow more extensive analysis than that allowed by onboard sensors.

Risks of cross-contamination of the Earth biosphere from returned Martian samples have been raised, though the risk of this occurring is considered to be low.

The most recent concepts are a NASA-ESA proposal; a CNSA proposal, Tianwen-3; a Roscosmos proposal, Mars-Grunt; and a JAXA proposal, Martian Moons eXploration (MMX). Although NASA and ESA's plans to return the samples to Earth are still in the design stage as of 2023, samples have been gathered on Mars by the Perseverance rover.

In January 2024, a proposed NASA plan had been challenged due to budget and scheduling considerations, and a newer overhaul plan undertaken.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.