Sample Retrieval Lander
Perseverance Returns Samples to Lander
Sample Recovery Helicopters
Mars Ascent Vehicle
Capture, Containment, and Return System
Earth Return Orbiter
Earth Entry System
Sample Retrieval Lander
A Sample Retrieval Lander would launch to Mars in 2028, carrying with it a NASA-led Mars rocket and a pair of small Mars helicopters. The lander would touch down close to Perseverance's landing location in Jezero Crater. Read More ›
Lead: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Perseverance Returns Samples to Lander
Having collected and stored a wide variety of samples, the Perseverance rover would be the primary means of transporting samples to the Sample Retrieval Lander, handing off a collection of sample tubes carried on board. An ESA-provided robotic arm would transfer the tubes into a sample container on the lander's rocket.
Lead: Jet Propulsion Laboratory + European Space Agency
Sample Recovery Helicopters
A pair of helicopters would provide a secondary capability to pick up additional samples stashed on the surface by Perseverance, bringing them back to the lander for transfer onto the Mars rocket. Read More ›
Lead: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Mars Ascent Vehicle
The Mars Ascent Vehicle would be the first rocket ever to launch off the surface of Mars, transporting the container of sample tubes into orbit. Read More ›
Lead: Marshall Space Flight Center
Capture, Containment, and Return System
The Capture, Containment, and Return System aboard the Earth Return Orbiter would capture the Orbiting Sample container, orient it, and transfer it into a clean zone for return to Earth. Read More ›
Lead: Goddard Space Flight Center
Earth Return Orbiter
The ESA Earth Return Orbiter would carry the NASA-provided Capture, Containment, and Return System and Earth Entry System. The orbiter would launch from Earth in 2027 and meet the sample cache in Mars orbit.
The return system within the orbiter would capture and contain the samples, placing them in the Earth Entry System. The Earth Return Orbiter would then ferry the entry vehicle and its precious cargo back to the vicinity of Earth, where it would separate and safely touchdown on land. Read More ›
Lead: European Space Agency
Earth Entry System
The Earth Entry System would contain the orbiting sample inside a disk-shaped vehicle with a heat shield for safe entry through the Earth's atmosphere.
Lead: Langley and Ames Research Centers