Perseverance is conducting a science campaign in Jezero Crater, sampling the ancient river delta and scouting the area. To collect rocks and sediment from Perseverance's sample tubes, the MSR Campaign will land spacecraft where Perseverance has filled. Survey sites are being considered due to their proximity to the delta, as well as their reasonably flat, lander-friendly terrain.

Using Mars Sample Return, Earth will receive samples from that faraway terrain and analyze them intensively in laboratories to search for evidence of microscopic life on Mars in the past. NASA and ESA would partner to launch multiple spacecraft from the surface of Mars, involving a strategic partnership.

A Mars Sample Return lander would be deployed to bring samples of Mars rock and sediment to Earth for intensive study using NASA’s Perseverance rover’s navigation camera. 

A dull landing place is good for Mars Sample Return, said MSR Program Manager Richard Cook of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Perseverance team went the extra mile for us. Our preference is for a flat, uninspiring view because while we need to pick up the samples, sightseeing isn't on the agenda.”

MSR's first stage has already begun: Nine samples of Mars rock have already been cored, collected, and sealed by Perseverance. Perseverance will drop sample tubes, or cache them, on the surface of Jezero Crater on July 6. They will be retrieved later during MSR surface operations.

An illustration illustrating a NASA Mars lander-rocket combination that would return samples of material collected by the Perseverance rover to Earth. Sample Retrieval Landers would carry the Mars Ascent Vehicle (about 10 feet tall). Using robotic arms, the lander would load the rover's sealed sample tubes into a container in the rocket's nose cone.

NASA's Mars Ascent Vehicle in powered flight is shown in this illustration. A tube containing Martian rocks and soil will be carried by the MAV into orbit around Mars, then ESA's Earth Return Orbiter will return them to Earth. In images taken from space - at least from spacecraft in orbit - the area looks flat and long like a runway. But a closer look required a rover's perspective.

JPL's Mars Sample Return Systems Engineering & Integration manager Al Chen said he had been eyeing these locations since before Perseverance's landing. The landing strip looks great up close and personal. It will be on our shortlist of potential landing and cache sites for MSR now.

This image of flat terrain was taken by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover to serve as a model for a Mars Sample Return lander that will haul rocks and sediment to Earth for intensive study.

With NASA's Mars Sample Return campaign, scientists will bring samples back from Mars to study with the most advanced instruments available. Since the 1970s, the National Academy of Sciences has prioritized solar system exploration.

In this partnership, NASA and ESA will return samples from another planet and launch from another planet's surface. NASA's Perseverance Mars rover, which explored an ancient lakebed, collected samples that are believed to offer the best opportunity to discover past life possibilities on Mars.

Earth is a rocky planet with a complex history. Knowing it better would help us understand the other rocky planets.