October 2024
Lunar construction with regolith and robots
... (see Figure 7). The facility is aligned with ESA’s robotic exploration programme requirements for missions including Mars Sample Return. A critical aspect of its work involves the simulation and validation of plume-structure interactions using...
23 November 2020
China's lunar sample return mission to launch tonight
... of three years for the mission. A triumphant operation this time around is likely to lay the foundations for a Mars sample return later in the decade or even a crewed lunar mission. The nation is already lining up three further missions after...
October 2020
Connecting the global space community
... our fascinating neighbour, and the Mars2020 mission will collect material for a future Mars sample return mission. Meanwhile, JAXA’s Hayabusa mission will return samples from near-Earth asteroids (at the end of 2020), so next year we might have some...
30 July 2020
NASA's Perseverance rover successfully blasts off to Mars
...-sized rover, which weighs just under 1,043 kilograms, will collect rock and soil samples for a possible return to Earth by future Mars sample return missions from its landing location in Jezero Crater. Jezero Crater is thought to contain fan-delta...
25 June 2021
China announces plans to build a base on Mars starting in 2033
..., whereby androids will be sent ahead to explore the martian surface for a potential Mars base site. The robots are also expected to conduct a Mars sample return mission, reports Chinese state-owned media Global Times. Regular follow-up flights...
08 October 2021
Images confirm "once and for all" Jezero crater was an ancient Martian lake
...and biosignatures. And the boulders at the top will enable us to sample old pieces of crustal rocks. Both are main objectives for sampling and caching rocks before Mars Sample Return.” While it’s unknown if the lakes fluctuating water levels resulted...
