NASA is preparing to bring scientifically selected rock samples back from Mars for the first time as part of the planned Mars Sample Return campaign with ESA (European Space Agency). Already having gathered 20 samples from the Red Planet, NASA’s Perseverance rover is now poised to enter a new area of Mars’ Jezero Crater and begin collecting samples with the strongest signal of a mineral called carbonate, which on Earth is deposited by liquid water. In bringing these samples to state-of-the-art Earth-based laboratories, the campaign will help scientists understand how rocky planets form and how potentially habitable environments evolve.

This edition of the Mars Report, set in the Mars Yard at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, features Mars Sample Return Principal Scientist Mini Wadhwa. She explains the testing and preparations for the Mars Sample Return campaign, as well as the excitement that’s building for bringing those Mars samples to labs on Earth for the first time.

To visualize the complicated choreography involved in bringing Mars samples to Earth, watch Mars Sample Return: Bringing Mars Rock Samples Back to Earth

For more information on NASA's Mars Sample Return Campaign, visit mars.nasa.gov/msr.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/JHU-APL; personal images: courtesy of M. Wadwha