Mars sample-return mission

File:Martian Meteoritses (15651719446).jpg in Vienna]]

Once returned to Earth, stored samples can be studied with the most sophisticated science instruments available. Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, expects such studies to allow several new discoveries at many fields.{{cite web |url=https://mars.nasa.gov/news/9029/nasas-perseverance-rover-collects-first-mars-rock-sample/|title=NASA's Perseverance Rover Collects First Mars Rock Sample |date=September 6, 2021 |publisher=Jet Propulsion Laboratory |access-date=March 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813084155/https://mars.nasa.gov/news/9029/nasas-perseverance-rover-collects-first-mars-rock-sample/ |archive-date=13 August 2023 |url-status=live }} Samples may be reanalyzed in the future by instruments that do not yet exist.{{cite web |title=Beyond 2009: Mars Sample Return |url=http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/future/futureMissions.html |publisher=Jet Propulsion Laboratory |access-date=26 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518010223/http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/future/futureMissions.html |archive-date=18 May 2008 |url-status=dead}} {{PD-notice}}

In 2006, the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group identified 55 important investigations related to Mars exploration. In 2008, they concluded that about half of the investigations "could be addressed to one degree or another by MSR", making MSR "the single mission that would make the most progress towards the entire list" of investigations. Moreover, it was reported that a significant fraction of the investigations could not be meaningfully advanced without returned samples.{{cite tech report |last1=Thee International Mars Architecture for the Return of Samples (iMARS) Working Group |date=June 1, 2008 |title=Preliminary Planning for an International Mars Sample Return Mission |url=https://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/reports/iMARS_FinalReport.pdf |access-date=29 August 2021 |publisher=NASA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625074206/https://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/reports/iMARS_FinalReport.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2022 |url-status=live }}

One source of Mars samples is what are thought to be Martian meteorites, which are rocks ejected from Mars that made their way to Earth. {{As of|2023|8}}, 356 meteorites had been identified as Martian, out of over 79,000 known meteorites.{{cite web|title=Meteoritical Bulletin: Search the Database|url=https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?sea=&sfor=names&ants=&nwas=&falls=&valids=&stype=contains&lrec=50&map=ge&browse=&country=All&srt=name&categ=Martian+meteorites&mblist=All&rect=&phot=&strewn=&snew=0&pnt=Normal%20table&dr=&page=1|access-date=2023-09-01|publisher=Lunar and Planetary Institute }} These meteorites are believed to be from Mars because their elemental and isotopic compositions are similar to rocks and atmospheric gases analyzed on Mars.{{cite journal|last=Treiman|first=A.H.|title=The SNC meteorites are from Mars|journal=Planetary and Space Science|volume=48|issue=12–14|date=October 2000|pages=1213–1230|bibcode=2000P&SS...48.1213T|doi=10.1016/S0032-0633(00)00105-7}}

{{see also| NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return#History}}

File:A COMPENDIUM OF FUTURE SPACE ACTIVITIES - NARA - 17476650.jpg

Returning from Mars appeared in technical literature when Apollo was still in development and the first spacecraft to fly past Mars had not yet launched, with an expectation that people would be on board for Mars ascent.{{Cite journal |last=Helgostam |first=L. F. |date=September-October 1964 |title=Requirements for Efficient Mars Launch Trajectories |url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/3.27694 |journal=Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets |language=en |volume=1 |issue=5 |pages=539–544 |doi=10.2514/3.27694 |issn=0022-4650}} The density of the Mars atmosphere remained unknown at that time, so the Lockheed engineering author reported the analysis of trajectory options over a range of aerodynamic drag conditions for a 15-ton launch vehicle to reach a rendezvous orbit.

At NASA, returning samples from Mars was studied jointly by the Langley Research Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the early 1970s during the time that the Viking Mars lander mission was in development, and a Langley author noted that the "Mars surface-to-orbit launch vehicle" would need high performance because its mass would "have a substantial impact on the mass and systems requirements" for earlier mission phases, delivery of that vehicle to Mars and launch preparations on Mars.{{Cite journal |last=Weaver |first=W. L. |date=June 1974 |title=Mars Surface-to-Orbit Vehicles for Sample Return Missions |url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/3.62092 |journal=Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets |volume=11 |issue=6 |pages=426–428 |doi=10.2514/3.62092 |issn=0022-4650}}

For at least three decades, scientists have advocated the return of geological samples from Mars.{{cite tech report|url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/598/vision-and-voyages-for-planetary-science-in-the-decade-2013-2022|title=Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013–2022|work=National Academies Press|publisher=NASA|date=2011|page=6‑21|author1=Space Studies Board|author2=National Research Council|author-link2=United States National Research Council |isbn=9780309224642 |lccn=2011944161 }}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} {{PD-notice}} One early concept was the Sample Collection for Investigation of Mars (SCIM) proposal, which involved sending a spacecraft in a grazing pass through Mars's upper atmosphere to collect dust and air samples without landing or orbiting.{{cite tech report |last1=Jones |first1=S. M. |last2=Jurewicz |first2=J. G. |last3=Wiens |first3=R. |last4=Yen |first4=A. |last5=Leshin |first5=L. A. |title=Ground Truth From Mars (2008) – Mars Sample Return at 6 Kilometers per Second: Practical, Low Cost, Low Risk, and Ready|url=https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/msr2008/pdf/4020.pdf |date=2008|publisher=Universities Space Research Association (USRA)|access-date=September 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404205317/https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/msr2008/pdf/4020.pdf |archive-date=4 April 2023 |url-status=live }}

The Soviet Union considered a Mars sample-return mission, Mars 5NM, in 1975 but it was cancelled due to the repeated failures of the N1 rocket that would have launched it. Another sample-return mission, Mars 5M (Mars-79), planned for 1979, was cancelled due to complexity and technical problems.{{cite book|last=Harvey|first=Brian|title=Russian Planetary Exploration: History, Development, Legacy and Prospects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XC0WlTuujgC&pg=PA238|year=2007|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-0-387-46343-8|page=238}}

In the mid-1980's, JPL mission planners noted that MSR had been "pushed by budgetary and other pressures into the '90s," and that the round trip would "impose large propulsion requirements."{{Cite magazine |last=French |first=J.R. |last2=Norton |first2=H.N. |last3=Klein |first3=G.A. |date=November 1985 |title=Mars sample-return options |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_aerospace-america_1985-11_23_11/page/n51 |url-access=registration |magazine=Aerospace America |pages=50-58 |via=Internet Archive |volume=23 |issue=11}} They presented a notional mass budget for a concept that would launch a 9.5-metric-ton payload from Earth, including a Mars orbiter for Earth return, and a lander having a 400-kg rover and a "Mars return vehicle" that would mass over 2 metric tons. A 20-kg sample canister would arrive at Earth containing 5 kg of samples including scientific-quality cores drilled from every type of Mars terrain.

In the late 1980s, multiple NASA centers contributed to a proposed Mars Rover Sample Return mission (MRSR).{{Cite conference |last=Cohen |first=A. |date=November 1988 |title=Mars Rover Sample Return mission delivery and return challenges |url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.1988-5007 |conference=1st International Symposium on Space Automation and Robotics |location=Arlington, VA |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |doi=10.2514/6.1988-5007|id=AIAA 1988-5007}}{{Cite conference |last=Allen |first=L. |date=November 1988 |title=Mars Rover Sample Return: Rover challenges |url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.1988-5009 |conference=1st International Symposium on Space Automation and Robotics |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |doi=10.2514/6.1988-5009|id=AIAA 1988-5009}} As described by JPL authors, one option for MRSR relied on a single launch of a 12-ton package including a Mars orbiter and Earth return vehicle, a 700-kg rover, and a 2.7-ton Mars ascent vehicle (MAV) which would use pump-fed liquid propulsion for a significant mass saving.{{Cite conference |last=Palaszewski |first=B. |last2=Frisbee |first2=R. |date=July 1988 |title=Advanced propulsion for the Mars Rover Sample Return Mission |url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.1988-2900 |conference=24th Joint Propulsion Conference |language=en |location=Boston, MA |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |doi=10.2514/6.1988-2900|id=AIAA 1988-2900}} A 20-kg sample package on the MAV was to contain 5 kg of Mars soil. A Johnson Space Center author subsequently referred to a launch from Earth in 1998 with a MAV mass in the range 1400 to 1500 kg including a pump-fed first stage and a pressure-fed second stage.{{Cite conference |last=Lance |first=N. |date=January 1989 |title=Mars Rover Sample Return ascent, rendezvous, and return to earth |url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.1989-424 |conference=27th Aerospace Sciences Meeting |location=Reno, NV |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |doi=10.2514/6.1989-424|id=AIAA 1989-0424}}

File:Mars In-Situ Resource UtilizationSample Return MISR.jpg

The United States' Mars Exploration Program, formed after Mars Observer{{'s}} failure in September 1993, supported a Mars sample return.{{cite conference |conference=34th Aerospace Sciences Meeting & Exhibit |date=January 1996 |last1=Shirley |first1=Donna |last2=McCleese |first2=Daniel J. |title=Mars Exploration Program Strategy: 1995–2020 |url=https://dataverse.jpl.nasa.gov/api/access/datafile/29067 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230901131142/https://dataverse.jpl.nasa.gov/api/access/datafile/29067 |url-status=live |archive-date=2023-09-01 |access-date=18 October 2012 |publisher=Jet Propulsion Laboratory |hdl=2014/23620 |id=96-0333 }} {{PD-notice}} One architecture was proposed by Glenn J. MacPherson in the early 2000s.

In 1996, the possibility of life on Mars was raised when apparent microfossils were thought to have been found in the Martian meteorite ALH84001. This hypothesis was eventually rejected, but led to a renewed interest in a Mars sample return.{{Cite web |url=https://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/snc/nasa3.html |title=Mars Program Gears up for Sample Return Mission |date=4 October 1996 |publisher=NASA |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813111617/https://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/snc/nasa3.html |archive-date=13 August 2022 }} {{PD-notice}}

In the mid-1990s, NASA funded JPL and Lockheed Martin to study affordable small-scale MSR mission architectures including a concept to return 500 grams of Mars samples using a 100-kg MAV that would meet a small Mars orbiter for rendezvous and return to Earth.{{Cite conference |last=Wallace |first=R. |last2=Gamber |first2=R. |last3=Clark |first3=B. |last4=Sutter |first4=B. |date=January 1996 |title=Low cost Mars Sample Return mission options |url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.1996-336 |conference=34th Aerospace Sciences Meeting |location=Reno, NV |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |doi=10.2514/6.1996-336 |id=AIAA 1996-336}} Robert Zubrin, a long-time advocate for human Mars missions, concluded in 1996 that the best approach to MSR would be launching directly to Earth using propellants made on Mars, because a rendezvous in Mars orbit would be too risky and he estimated that a direct-return MAV would mass 500 kg, too heavy to send to Mars affordably if fully fueled on Earth.{{Cite conference |last=Zubrin |first=R. |date=July 1996 |title=A comparison of methods for the Mars Sample Return mission |url=https://marspapers.org/paper/Zubrin_1996_2.pdf |conference=32nd Joint Propulsion Conference |location=Lake Buena Vista, FL |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |doi=10.2514/6.1996-2941 |id=AIAA 1996-2941}} International peer reviewers concurred.{{Cite journal |last=Zubrin |first=R. |date=March 1998 |title=A Comparison of Methods for the Mars Sample Return Mission |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-the-british-interplanetary-society_1998-03_51_3/page/116 |journal=Journal of the British Interplanetary Society |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=116–122 |url-access=registration|via=Internet Archive}} In 1997, a detailed analysis of conventional small-scale rocket technology (both solid and liquid propellant) found that known propulsion components would be too heavy to build a MAV as lightweight as several hundred kilograms and "The application of launch vehicle design principles to the development of new hardware on a tiny scale" was suggested.{{Cite conference |last=Whitehead |first=John |date=July 1997 |title=Mars ascent propulsion options for small sample return vehicles |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc625192/m2/1/high_res_d/16131.pdf |conference=33rd Joint Propulsion Conference |location=Seattle, WA |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |doi=10.2514/6.1997-2950 |id=AIAA 1997-2950}}

In 1998, JPL presented a design for a two-stage pressure-fed liquid bipropellant MAV that would be 600 kilograms or less at Mars liftoff, intended for a MSR mission in 2005.{{Cite conference |last=Guernsey |first=C.S. |date=July 1998 |title=Mars Ascent Propulsion System (MAPS) technology program - Plans and progress |url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.1998-3664 |conference=34th Joint Propulsion Conference |location=Cleveland, OH |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |doi=10.2514/6.1998-3664 |id=AIAA 1998-3664}} The same JPL author collaborated on a notional single-stage 200-kg MAV intended to be made small by using pump-fed propulsion to permit lightweight low-pressure liquid propellant tanks and compact high-pressure thrust chambers.{{Cite conference |last=Whitehead |first=J.C. |last2=Guernsey |first2=C.S. |date=April–May 1998 |title=Mars Ascent Propulsion on a Minimum Scale |conference=3rd IAA International Conference on Low-Cost Planetary Missions |location=Pasadena, CA |hdl=2014/19161|hdl-access=free}} {{Cite journal |last=Whitehead |first=J. C. |last2=Guernsey |first2=Carl S. |date=August–November 1999 |title=Mars ascent propulsion on a minimum scale |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc680209/m2/1/high_res_d/295437.pdf |journal=Acta Astronautica |volume=45 |issue=4-9 |pages=319–327 |doi=10.1016/s0094-5765(99)00149-6 |issn=0094-5765}} This mass advantage of pump-fed operation was applied to a conceptual 100-kg MAV having a mass budget consistent with reaching Mars orbit using monopropellant, partly enabled by the simplicity of a single tank, also applicable to Mars landing typically done with monopropellant.{{Cite journal |last=Whitehead |first=J. C. |last2=Brewster |first2=G. T. |date=July–August 2000 |title=High-Pressure-Pumped Hydrazine for Mars Sample Return |url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/2.3596 |journal=Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets |language=en |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=532–538 |doi=10.2514/2.3596 |issn=0022-4650}} The high-pressure thrusters and pump had previously been demonstrated in the 1994 flight of an experimental 21-kg rocket.{{Cite conference |last=Whitehead |first=J. |last2=Pittenger |first2=L. |last3=Colella |first3=N. |date=June 1994 |title=Design and Flight Testing of a Reciprocating Pump Fed Rocket |url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.1994-3031 |conference=30th Joint Propulsion Conference |location=Indianapolis, IN |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |doi=10.2514/6.1994-3031 |id=AIAA 1994-3031}}

As of late 1999, the MSR mission was anticipated to be launched from Earth in 2003 and 2005.{{Cite conference |last=Price |first=H. |last2=Cramer |first2=K. |last3=Doudrick |first3=S. |last4=Lee |first4=W. |last5=Matijevic |first5=J. |last6=Weinstein |first6=S. |last7=Lam-Trong |first7=T. |last8=Marsal |first8=O. |last9=Mitcheltree |first9=R. |date=2000 |title=Mars Sample Return spacecraft systems architecture |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/879302/ |conference=2000 IEEE Aerospace Conference |volume=7 |pages=357–375 |doi=10.1109/AERO.2000.879302 |isbn=978-0-7803-5846-1}} Each was to deliver a rover and a Mars ascent vehicle, and a French supplied Mars orbiter with Earth return capability was to be included in 2005. The 140-kg MAV, "in the process of being contracted to industry" at that time, was to include telemetry on its first stage and thrusters that would spin the vehicle to 300 RPM before separation of the simplified lightweight upper stage. Atop each MAV, a 3.6-kg, 16-cm diameter spherical payload would contain 500 grams of samples and have solar cells to power a long-life beacon to facilitate rendezvous with the Earth return orbiter. The orbiter would capture the sample containers delivered by both MAVs and place them in separate Earth entry vehicles. This mission concept, considered by NASA's Mars Exploration Program to return samples by 2008,{{Cite magazine |last=Newcott |first=William |date=1 August 1998 |title=Return to Mars |magazine=National Geographic Magazine}} was cancelled following a program review.{{cite web|url=http://www.marsnews.com/missions/sample_return|title=MarsNews.com: Mars Sample Return|date=27 February 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227025532/http://www.marsnews.com/missions/sample_return|archive-date=27 February 2015}}

In mid-2006, the International Mars Architecture for the Return of Samples (iMARS) Working Group was chartered by the International Mars Exploration Working Group (IMEWG) to outline the scientific and engineering requirements of an internationally sponsored and executed Mars sample-return mission in the 2018–2023 time frame.

In October 2009, NASA and ESA established the Mars Exploration Joint Initiative to proceed with the ExoMars program, whose ultimate aim is "the return of samples from Mars in the 2020s".{{Cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/mars-20090708.html |title=NASA and ESA Establish a Mars Exploration Joint Initiative |date=8 July 2009 |publisher=NASA |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227212343/https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/mars-20090708.html |archive-date=27 December 2022 }} {{PD-notice}}{{cite web|last=Christensen|first=Phil|date=April 2010|title=Planetary Science Decadal Survey: MSR Lander Mission|url=https://archive.org/details/MarsSampleReturnLanderMissionConceptStudy|access-date=2012-08-24|work=JPL|publisher=NASA}} {{PD-notice}} ExoMars's first mission was planned to launch in 2018{{Cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7500371.stm |title=Date set for Mars sample mission |date=10 July 2008 |publisher=BBC |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227212342/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7500371.stm |archive-date=27 December 2022 }} with unspecified missions to return samples in the 2020–2022 time frame.{{Cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Aurora/SEMT8WWIPIF_0.html |title=Mars Sample Return: bridging robotic and human exploration |date=21 July 2008 |publisher=European Space Agency |access-date=18 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301144707/http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Aurora/SEMT8WWIPIF_0.html |archive-date=1 March 2012 }} The cancellation of the caching rover MAX-C in 2011, and later NASA withdrawal from ExoMars, due to budget limitations, ended the mission.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/48753850 |title=International cooperation called key to planet exploration |last=Wal |first=Michael |date=22 August 2012 |work=NBC News |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227212339/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna48753850 |archive-date=27 December 2022 }} The pull-out was described as "traumatic" for the science community.

In early 2011, the US National Research Council's Planetary Science Decadal Survey, which laid out mission planning priorities for the period 2013–2022, declared an MSR campaign its highest priority Flagship Mission for that period.{{Cite web |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-113hhrg92326/html/CHRG-113hhrg92326.htm |title=Exploring Our Solar System: The Asteroids Act as a Key Step |date=10 September 2014 |website=www.govinfo.gov |publisher=United States Government Publishing Office |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227212339/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-113hhrg92326/html/CHRG-113hhrg92326.htm |archive-date=27 December 2022 }} In particular, it endorsed the proposed Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher (MAX-C) mission in a "descoped" (less ambitious) form. This mission plan was officially cancelled in April 2011.

A key mission requirement for the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission was that it help prepare for MSR.{{Cite news |url=https://spacenews.com/mars-2020-rover-mission-to-cost-more-than-2-billion/ |title=Mars 2020 rover mission to cost more than US$2 billion |last=Foust |first=Jeff |date=20 July 2016 |work=SpaceNews }}{{cite web|url=http://www.dmns.org/museum-blog/Post/?nid=23546|title=NASA Eyes Sample-Return Capability for Post-2020 Mars Orbiter|last=Evans|first=Kim|publisher=Denver Museum of Nature and Science|date=13 October 2015|access-date=10 November 2015|archive-date=31 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831232947/http://www.dmns.org/museum-blog/Post/?nid=23546|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/ssbsite/documents/webpage/ssb_059308.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929103136/http://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/ssbsite/documents/webpage/ssb_059308.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-09-29|title=Mission Concept Study: Planetary Science Decadal Survey – MSR Orbiter Mission (Including Mars Returned Sample Handling)|publisher=NASA|first=Richard|last=Mattingly|date=March 2010}} {{PD-notice}} The rover landed on 18 February 2021 in Jezero Crater to collect samples and store them in 43 cylindrical tubes for later retrieval.

File:6th Perseverance Rock Sample Malay at Three Forks Sample Depot.png from the Star Wars movies.{{Cite news |url=https://www.space.com/nasa-mars-perseverance-rover-sample-tubes-lightsabers |title=NASA's Mars Perseverance rover sample tubes look like Star Wars lightsabers |last=Howell |first=Elizabeth |date=22 December 2022 |work=Space.com |access-date=19 January 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805012308/https://www.space.com/nasa-mars-perseverance-rover-sample-tubes-lightsabers |archive-date=5 August 2023 }}]]

{{Main|NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return Mission|Mars 2020|Perseverance (rover)|Timeline of Mars 2020}}

File:Perseverance-Selfie-at-Rochette-Horizontal-V2.gif

The Mars 2020 mission landed the Perseverance rover in the Jezero crater in February 2021. It has collected multiple samples and will continue to do so, packing them into cylinders for later return in the MSR Campaign. Jezero appears to be an ancient lakebed, suitable for ground sampling.{{cite news|author=|date=5 March 2021|title=Welcome to 'Octavia E. Butler Landing'|work=NASA|url=https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25701/welcome-to-octavia-e-butler-landing/|access-date=5 March 2021}}{{cite journal|last=Voosen|first=Paul|date=July 31, 2021|title=Mars rover's sampling campaign begins|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/nasa-s-perseverance-rover-drill-first-samples-martian-rock|journal=Science|publisher=AAAS|volume=373|issue=6554|pages=477|bibcode=2021Sci...373..477V|doi=10.1126/science.373.6554.477|pmid=34326215|access-date=August 1, 2021|s2cid=236514399}}{{Cite web |title=On the Eve of Perseverance's First Sample |url=https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/status/319/on-the-eve-of-perseverances-first-sample/ |access-date=2021-08-12 |date=5 August 2021 |website=mars.nasa.gov |publisher=NASA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207230019/https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/status/319/on-the-eve-of-perseverances-first-sample/ |archive-date=7 February 2023 |url-status=live }} It is also assigned the task to return the samples directly to the Sample Return lander, considering its potential mission longevity.

File:Mars Sample Depot at 3 forks.png

{{excerpt|Perseverance (rover)|Samples cached for the Mars sample-return mission|only=paragraphs|hat=no}}

From December 21, 2022, Perseverance started a campaign to deposit 10 of its collected samples to the backup depot (Three Forks), to ensure that if Perseverance runs into problems, the MSR campaign could still succeed.

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{{Main|NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return Mission}}

File:PIA25326-MarsSampleReturnProgram-20220727.jpg |access-date=28 July 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230615063115/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/science/mars-sample-mission-nasa.html/ |archive-date=15 June 2023 }}
(artwork; 27 July 2022)