As originally envisioned, the Mars Sample Return mission ... a sample container atop a solid-fuel rocket known as the Mars Ascent Vehicle. The MAV would then blast off and release the sample ...

along with the Mars Ascent Vehicle needed to blast the collected samples to orbit where the ESA spacecraft would capture and return them to Earth. As with option one, the timeframe for sample ...

For as long as humans have been sending probes to Mars ... the MAV. Previously, the European Space Agency (ESA) was to contribute a small “fetch rover” which would collect the sample tubes ...

Lockheed Martin has been part of all NASA Mars missions to date and it has been part of every single sample return mission to ...

The Perseverance rover has found some intriguing samples on the red planet. Here's what they might reveal about the origins of life in our universe—if we can get them back to Earth.

Credit: NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech In an update on efforts to lower the cost and hasten the schedule for a challenging Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, NASA estimates it is a year to a year and a half ...

The Curiosity rover detected the largest organic molecules to date on Mars, which may be fragments of fatty acids, or some of ...

With the roughly 20-day wide launch window for the Mars 2020 mission rapidly ... already within the titanium sample tube in which it will remain until the sample return mission.

While NASA has long planned on a Mars Sample Return mission, a ballooning budget and an uncertain future may push the project as far back as 2040.

China says it is open to accommodating foreign participation in its Tianwen-3 Mars sample return mission. As part of the effort, international partners can propose equipment that would be ...

which means there was enough time for life-forming chemistry to happen in these crater-lake environments on Mars," said Daniel Glavin, senior scientist for sample return at NASA's Goddard Space ...

China’s simpler "grab-and-go" mission, targeting a 2028 launch, could return Mars samples years ahead of NASA, adding urgency to the U.S. effort. Revised plans estimate costs of $5.8–$7.7 ...