NASA wants to send two more missions to Mars to collect rock samples

One of the greatest scientific successes of the Apollo mission was to take samples of the Moon that were brought back to Earth for study. Even 50 years later, these samples always lead to new scientific breakthroughs. And NASA hopes to replicate this success with its March 2020 mission, which aims to collect samples of Mars when it launches next year.

The challenge is to recover these samples on Earth. If the mission succeeds, it will be the first time that a sample is taken from another planet. "Apollo 11 has demonstrated the importance of restoring samples from other worlds for analysis here on Earth," said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's Deputy Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, in a statement. "Today we stand on the shoulders of Apollo, we are preparing the launch of the first leg of the first round trip of humanity and the return of a sample of another planet: Mars."

NASA has revealed more details about its sample collection plans, centered around the Jezero crater where the Mars 2020 robot will land. The mobile will collect the samples and can perform a baseline analysis in situ. Two subsequent missions will then be needed to bring these samples back to Earth. The first of these missions would land a rocket called Mars Ascent Vehicle, a spacecraft and a second rover in the crater, and then launch the samples into orbit around Mars. The second mission would rendezvous with the samples and bring them back to Earth.

To achieve this monumental feat, NASA will cooperate with other space agencies such as the European Space Agency. The mission is linked to NASA's wider mission for possible manned missions to Mars from an outpost on the Moon as part of the Artemis project.

"NASA and the European Space Agency are consolidating these exciting mission concepts for recovering samples," said Zurbuchen. "Just as the first samples sent back to Earth from the Moon Moon Sea made history, the first samples sent back to Earth from another planet will make history and amaze us once again. And these samples will come from the crater Jezero of Mars. "