18 June 2018
ESA Council backs Lunar gateway venture
...contributions to an international Mars Sample Return mission or other sample return missions; and examining scenarios... abort capability and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. ESA’s Director of Human and Robotic Exploration David...
May 2022
China’s international collaboration in space: an evolving approach from the Middle Kingdom
China’s space achievements have been well-documented: three space stations, multiple lunar missions including a sample return, plans for a Lunar Research Base and a number of Mars missions, to name but a few. In parallel, China has ...
June 2019
The challenge of planetary protection
... tortured surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus and its fascinating ongoing geological activity is a prime target for future sample-return missions. Future plans To ensure safe and productive human exploration of Mars, we need to know more about how...
January 2021
Evolution of volatiles on the Moon
...the robotic Luna sample-return missions of the former Soviet Union) were sent. We do not yet have samples of this ...the robotic precursor missions that will precede it, will eventually return samples of these materials to Earth, where they can be ...
February 2019
Simulating lunar and martian regolith in the laboratory
... from almost 50 years of lunar regolith research following the Apollo and Luna sample return missions. Over 382 kg of lunar surface materials were returned through these missions from nine locations across the lunar nearside, including some...
April 2025
Racing to the Moon
... Chang’e architecture duplicate on a smaller scale China’s human mission plans for the early 2030s. The lunar sample return tested in miniature most of the operations and many of the technologies necessary to achieve a human landing. Thus, China...
