Illustration of the Capture, Containment, and Return System for Mars Sample Return

This illustration shows the proposed Capture, Containment, and Return System, a NASA payload on the European Space Agency’s Earth Return Orbiter. As part of the Mars Sample Return Campaign, samples collected by NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover would be launched into Mars orbit within sealed tubes inside an Orbiting Sample container. The Earth Return Orbiter would then rendezvous with this container, and the Capture, Containment, and Return System would be tasked with capturing the Orbiting Sample container, orienting it, sterilizing its exterior, and transferring it into a clean zone for secondary containment, toward safe return to Earth.

The Capture, Containment, and Return System is part of the multi-mission Mars Sample Return program being planned by NASA and European Space Agency (ESA).

For more information, visit: mars.nasa.gov/msr.