NASA to bring Mars rock samples back to Earth

In a first, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is going to attempt to bring a sample of Mars back to Earth for scientists to study. NASA released an independent review report on November 10 indicating the agency is now ready to undertake its Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign to bring pristine samples from Mars to Earth for scientific study.

“Following an examination of the agency’s ambitious Mars Sample Return plan, the board’s report concludes that NASA is prepared for the campaign, building on decades of scientific advancements and technical progress in Mars exploration,” NASA said in a statement on Tuesday.

The process of bringing back samples from Mars will be a long one. The first part involves the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover launched in July. The rover is halfway on its path to the planet. The Perseverance Rover equipped with a coring drill and sample tubes will store the rocks in collection tubes after extraction.

Few of the rocks collected will then be picked up by ESA’s “fetch” rover. The next process includes the ESA rover delivering the rock samples to the NASA-provided MARS Ascent vehicle, which will launch into Mars’ orbit. The process doesn’t end there as again ESA would come into play. An ESA-provided Earth Return Orbiter will take these samples from the MARS Ascent vehicle and then bring them back to Earth sometime in the 2030s.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said that Mars Sample Return is something NASA needs to do as a leading member of the global community.

The sample return from Mars will be crucial turning point in understanding key astrobiology questions about the red planet- getting a step closer to the eventual goal of sending humans to Mars.