Testing Mars Sample Return: Testing the Landing Gear for All Scenarios

The first leg of Mars Sample Return is underway, as the Perseverance rover collects rock cores and other Mars samples at its landing site, Jezero Crater. Meanwhile on Earth, mission teams are optimizing the designs of the follow-on spacecraft that would retrieve these rock samples and bring them to Earth.

Animation is contributed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the European Space Agency, Goddard Space Flight Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center.

August 10, 2023