NASA to bring samples of rocks and soil from Mars to Earth

California: NASA plans to collect samples from the red planet and send them to Earth to get the most accurate information about the surface of Mars.

The US space agency, which designed the Mars Sample Return (MSR) project to send samples from Mars to Earth for scientific study, has approved the report of a special committee appointed for the purpose. The decision is to move forward with the project.

NASA sources say that European space is cooperating for this crucial step in space research.

Meanwhile, NASA’s Mars spacecraft ‘Perseverance,’ launched last July, has so far covered half of the distance. It will land on Mars and collect samples of rock and soil from the planet. The samples thus collected will be placed in tubes and stored on the surface of Mars.

The samples will be delivered to NASA’s Mars ascent vehicle with the help of a rover developed by the European Space Agency. From this, the sample tubes are launched into the orbit of Mars.

NASA said in a statement that the samples would be collected from the European Agency’s Earth Return Orbiter orbit and delivered to the Earth by 2030 in highly secure spacecraft.