The Mars Sample Return mission
Of all the missions listed here, perhaps none are as technologically and logistically complex as the Mars Sample Return Mission, a joint project between NASA and ESA. The mission is already in full swing, with NASA’s Perseverance rover having dropped 10 sample tubes filled with rock samples onto the Martian surface for later retrieval. Getting these samples back to Earth will require a future Martian orbiter, two Ingenuity-class helicopters (with wheels!), further cooperation from Perseverance, a sample retrieval lander, and an ascent vehicle.
More on this story: NASA Is Sending More Helicopters to Mars, and This Time They’ll Have Wheels
The plan is for the helicopters to retrieve some sample tubes, and for Perseverance to pack the tubes into the sample retrieval lander. Once loaded, the sample carousel will get placed inside the ascent vehicle. The rocket will rendezvous with the orbiter, which will in turn send the samples on a journey back to Earth, arriving here sometime around 2033. As I said, this will take some doing to pull off.
