NASA mission to return Mars rocks to Earth given green light – 'Pristine pieces of Mars'

“ESA will carefully study the report’s recommendations and agree with NASA how to reflect them in our work together.”

The report, which NASA published today (November 10), reads: “Mars Sample Return (MSR) is a highly complex and ambitious program of national importance.

“As noted by the MSR Independent Review Board (IRB), it is one of the most technically difficult and operationally demanding robotic space missions ever undertaken.

“The MSR IRB’s nonconsensus report highlights this complexity and importance in laying out their observations, findings, and recommendations.