Miracle on Mars! How NASA will return rocks to Earth? Check step by step process

NASA’s Mars Sample Return programme is a series of missions to retrieve scientific samples of Mars collected by the Perseverance rover. 

One of the most ambitious space missions ever planned, the Mars Sample Return mission would allow scientists to study those samples using state-of-the-art technology here on Earth. 

A Sample Retrieval Lander would launch to Mars in 2028, carrying with it a NASA-led Mars rocket and a pair of small Mars helicopters which would land close to Perseverance's landing location in the Jezero Crater. 

The Perseverance rover would transport martian samples to the Sample Retrieval Lander, handing off a collection of sample tubes carried on board via the robotic arm attached to it. 

The helicopters would provide an assist in picking up the samples by picking up additional samples stashed on the surface by Perseverance. 

The Mars Ascent Vehicle would transport the container of sample tubes into orbit, making the MAV the first rocket ever to launch off the surface of Mars. 

According to NASA, the Capture, Containment, and Return System aboard the Earth Return Orbiter would capture the Sample container and transfer it into a clean zone for Earth return. 

The Earth Return Orbiter would then ferry the entry vehicle and all the samples back to Earth’s orbit, where it would separate and touchdown on land safely. 

The Earth Entry System would contain the orbiting sample inside a disk-shaped vehicle with a heat shield for safe entry through the Earth's atmosphere. 

The journey from Mars to Earth is long enough as it is and NASA is doing everything possible to make sure that the scientific samples from Mars reach Earth safely.