Artist’s concept of a Mars sample return spacecraft
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The notion of bringing a little bit of Mars back to Earth has been a part of mission planning since the 1960s. The Soviet Union planned an early mission, revised those plans, and then revised them again, but never mounted the mission. Similar robotic programs have been pondered in the United States, but to date none have gained much traction. Now, NASA’s 2021 budget request includes a plan to bring home some of the core samples that will be obtained by the Mars 2020 rover’s drill, sealed inside small tubes, and left on the Martian surface until another spacecraft can be sent to the Red Planet to arrange a pickup. If NASA’s budget is passed as requested, a substantial sum—tens of millions of dollars—will be allocated to bringing us a bit of Mars for careful examination on Earth.