This animation shows the data collected on a Mars 2020 sample tube using a computerized tomography (CT) scanner. Engineers working on the sample tubes used the 3D imagery to better understand the tubes' internal structure. About the size and shape of a standard lab test tube, the 43 sample tubes headed to Mars must be lightweight, hardy enough to survive the demands of the round trip, and so clean that future scientists will be confident that what they are analyzing is 100% Mars. Movie available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24304

This image, taken in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, shows sample tube number 266, which was used to collect the first sample of Martian rock by NASA's Perseverance rover. The laser-etched serial number helps science team identify the tubes and their contents. Perseverance carries 43 sample tubes, 38 of which have been tasked to carry different samples from a variety of geologic units and surface materials. The other five are "witness tubes" that (prior to launch) were loaded with materials geared to capture molecular and particulate contaminants. They'll be opened one at a time on Mars to witness the ambient environment primarily near sample collection sites, so the science team can catalog any impurities that may have traveled with the tube from Earth or contaminants from the spacecraft that may be present during sample collection. Made chiefly of titanium, each sample tube for Perseverance weighs less than 2 ounces (57 grams) and is less than 6 inches long. . A white exterior coating guards against heating by the Sun potentially changing the chemical composition of the samples after Perseverance deposits the tubes on the surface of Mars. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24808

This illustration depicts the exterior of a sample tube being carried aboard the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. About the size and shape of a standard lab test tube, the 43 sample tubes headed to Mars must be lightweight, hardy enough to survive the demands of the round trip, and so clean that future scientists will be confident that what they are analyzing is 100% Mars, without Earthly contaminants. Exterior Ball Lock: Placed on opposite sides of the tube, the two ball locks help secure the sample tube as it progresses through the many stages of sample collection and storage. Serial Number: Helps with identification of the tubes and their contents. Titanium Nitride Coating: Gold in color, this extremely hard ceramic coating is used as a specialized surface treatment that resists contamination. Alumina Coating: The reflective coating provides thermal protection and acts as a sponge to prevent potential contaminants from getting inside the sample tube. Bare Titanium: The portion of tube near the open end contains no coating to eliminate the possibility that the coating could delaminate from this portion of the tube during the insertion of a hermetic seal. Bearing Race: An asymmetrical flange at the open end of the tube, it assists in the process of shearing (breaking) off samples at the completion of the coring portion of sample collection. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24306

This illustration depicts the interior of a sample tube being carried aboard the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. About the size and shape of a standard lab test tube, the 43 sample tubes headed to Mars must be lightweight, hardy enough to survive the demands of the round trip, and so clean that future scientists will be confident that what they are analyzing is 100% Mars, without Earthly contaminants. Cutaway Plunger: Works in concert with the spring to release (retract) or activate (extend) the two exterior-mounted ball locks. Springs: Along with the plunger, acts to release or activate the ball locks. Payload Cavity: Also known as the bore, is the area in the tube where cores of Martian rock and samples of regolith will be stored. Titanium Nitride Coating: The specialized surface treatment resists contamination. Hermetic Seal: This mechanically-activated plug is designed to ensure that no contaminants can get into the sample tube and that nothing from inside the tube can get out. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24307

A technician working on the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission takes a sample from the surface of sample tube 241 to test for contamination. Each sample tube has its own unique serial number (seen on the gold-colored portion of the tube). The image was taken in a clean room facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, where the tubes were developed and assembled. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24294

Six facsimile sample tubes hang on the sample tube board in the offices of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Each 3D-printed tube represents actual sample tubes the rover has filled on Mars, either with rock or atmosphere, and they are labeled with the names of the target from which they came. The board was handmade by Perseverance's deputy project manager, Rick Welch. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25026

A tray holding 39 sample tubes headed to Mars is installed into the Perseverance rover on May 21, 2020, in a clean room at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida during final installation for launch. Each tube is enveloped in its own gold-colored titanium sheath that protects it until the sample handling arm within the rover retrieves it to begin the process of collecting a sample of Martian rock or regolith (dust and crushed rock). In total, the rover carries 43 sample tubes. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24305

AS12-49-7286 (20 Nov. 1969) --- Astronaut Alan L. Bean, lunar module pilot, drives a core sample tube into the lunar surface during the Apollo 12 extravehicular activity. Good view of lunar soil.

Shown here is an annotated composite image of the interiors of the 33 tubes NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has used to collect samples as of July 24, 2025, the 1,574th Martian day (or sol) of the mission. At this point, Perseverance has collected 27 rock cores, two samples of regolith (broken Mars rock and dust), and one atmospheric sample. The composite also includes images of the three witness tube interiors. Atop each image in white text is the name given to the sample by the rover science team. Ten of the samples depicted here – including one atmospheric sample and one witness tube – were deposited in January 2023 at the rover's sample depot at a location dubbed "Three Forks" within Jezero Crater. The other 23 samples collected thus far remain aboard the rover. Visit this page for details on each sample. The images of the sample tube interiors were collected by the rover's Sampling and Caching System Camera (known as CacheCam). https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26643

Planetary protection engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California swab engineering models of the tubes that will store Martian rock and sediment samples as part of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance mission. Team members wanted to understand the transport of biological particles when the rover is taking rock cores. These measurements helped the rover team design hardware and sampling methods that meet stringent biological contamination control requirements. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23718

The first cored sample of Mars rock is visible (at center) inside a titanium sample collection tube in this from the Sampling and Caching System Camera (known as CacheCam) of NASA's Perseverance rover. The image was taken on Sept. 6, 2021 (the 194th sol, or Martian day, of the mission), prior to the system attaching and sealing a metal cap onto the tube. The image was taken so the cored-rock sample would be in focus. The seemingly dark ring surrounding the sample is a portion of the sample tube's inner wall. The bright gold-colored ring surrounding the tube and sample is the "bearing race," an asymmetrical flange that assists in shearing off a sample once the coring drill has bored into a rock. The outermost, mottled-brown disc in this image is a portion of the sample handling arm inside the rover's adaptive caching assembly. An additional set of images shows the tube and its cored sample during CacheCam imaging inspection. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Movie available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24806

This Mastcam-Z image shows a sample of Mars rock inside the sample tube on Sept. 1, 2021 (the 190th sol, or Martian day, of the mission), shortly after the coring operation. The image was taken after coring concluded but prior to an operation that vibrates the drill bit and tube to clear the tube's lip of any residual material. The bronze-colored outer-ring is the coring bit. The lighter-colored inner-ring is the open end of the sample tube, and inside is a rock core sample slightly thicker than a pencil. A portion of the tube's serial number – 266 – can be seen on the top side of tube's wall. Arizona State University in Tempe leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24804

This enhanced-color image from the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA's Perseverance rover shows a sample tube inside the coring bit after the August 6, 2021, coring activity was completed. The bronze-colored outer-ring is the coring bit. The lighter-colored inner-ring is the open end of the sample tube. A portion of the tube's serial number – 233 – can be seen on the left side of tube's wall. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24799

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with nine of the 10 sample tubes it deposited at a sample depot created within an area of Jezero Crater nicknamed "Three Forks." This annotated version of the selfie points out the estimated locations of those nine tubes. The ninth tube dropped during the construction of the depot, containing the sample the science team refers to as "Atsah," can be seen in front of the rover. Other sample tubes are visible in the background, including "Skyland," which is labeled. The image was taken by the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera on the end of the rover's robotic arm on Jan. 22, 2023, the 684th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The selfie is composed of 59 individual WATSON images that were stitched together once they were sent back to Earth. The Curiosity rover takes similar selfies using a camera on its robotic arm; videos explaining how the rovers take their selfies can be found here. The depot marks a crucial milestone in the NASA-ESA (European Space Agency) Mars Sample Return campaign that aims to bring Mars samples to Earth for closer study. The depot – completed when the 10th tube was dropped on Jan. 29, 2023 – will serve as a backup if Perseverance can't deliver its samples to a future robotic lander. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25735

As part of its search for signs of ancient life on Mars, Perseverance is the first rover to bring a sample caching system to the Red Planet that will package promising samples for return to Earth by a future mission. This series of images shows NASA's Perseverance rover inspecting and sealing a "witness" sample tube on June 21, 2021 (the 120th sol, or Martian day, of the mission), as it prepares to collect its first sample of Martian rock and sediment. Witness tubes are similar to the sample tubes that will hold Martian rock and sediment, except they have been preloaded with a variety of materials that can capture molecular and particulate contaminants. They are opened on the Martian surface to "witness" the ambient environment near sample collection sites. With samples returned to Earth in the future, the witness tubes would show whether Earth contaminants were present during sample collection. Such information would help scientists tell which materials in the Martian samples may be of Earth origin. The sampling system's dedicated camera, the Cachecam, captured these images. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Animation available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24751

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover dropped the last of 10 tubes at the "Three Forks" sample depot on Jan. 28, 2023, the 690th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This image of the 10th tube was taken by the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera on the end of the rover's 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm. This final sample is what's called a "witness" tube – one of three collected by the rover so far and the only one deposited at the depot. Witness tubes are similar to the sample tubes that hold Martian rock and sediment, except they have been preloaded with a variety of materials that can capture molecular and particulate contaminants. They are opened on the Martian surface to "witness" the ambient environment near sample collection sites. With samples returned to Earth in the future, the witness tubes would be used to determine if samples being collected might be contaminated with materials that traveled with the rover from Earth. The Three Forks depot, the first sample depot on another world, is a crucial milestone in the NASA-ESA (European Space Agency) Mars Sample Return campaign, which aims to bring Mars samples to Earth for closer study. The Perseverance rover will be the primary means to convey the collected samples to a future robotic lander as part of the campaign. The lander would, in turn, use a robotic arm to place the samples in a containment capsule aboard a small rocket that would blast off to Mars orbit, where another spacecraft would capture the sample container and return it safely to Earth. Hosting the duplicate set, the Three Forks depot will serve as a backup if Perseverance can't deliver its samples. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25340

NASA's Mars 2020 rover will store rock and soil samples in sealed tubes on the planet's surface for future missions to retrieve, as seen in this illustration. The Mars 2020 rover, scheduled to launch in July 2020, represents the first leg of humanity's first planned round trip to another planet. NASA and the European Space Agency are solidifying concepts for a Mars sample return mission. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23492

ISS026-E-029707 (25 Feb. 2011) --- Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, Expedition 26 flight engineer, labels surface sampling tubes in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station.

This image taken by the Mastcam-Z camera aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover on Jan. 20, 2022, shows that the rover successfully expelled the remaining large fragments of cored rock from a sample tube held in the drill at the end of its robotic arm. The sample was originally collected by the rover on Dec. 29, 2021, from a rock the team calls "Issole." This image has been processed to enhance contrast. Arizona State University in Tempe leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25073

This illustration shows a concept of what a rover fetching rock and soil samples on Mars for return to Earth could look like. The sample tube in this image would have been left on the surface by a previous mission, NASA's Mars 2020 rover. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are solidifying concepts for a Mars sample return mission to return Mars 2020 samples to Earth for scientific investigation. NASA will deliver a Mars lander in the vicinity of Jezero Crater, where the Mars 2020 rover will have collected and cached samples. The lander will carry a NASA rocket (the Mars Ascent Vehicle) along with ESA's Sample Fetch Rover that is roughly the size of NASA's Opportunity Mars rover. The fetch rover will gather the cached samples and carry them back to the lander for transfer to the ascent vehicle; additional samples could also be delivered directly by Mars 2020. The ascent vehicle will then launch a special container holding the samples into Mars orbit. ESA will put a spacecraft in orbit around Mars before the ascent vehicle launches. This spacecraft will rendezvous with and capture the orbiting samples before returning them to Earth. NASA will provide the payload module for the orbiter. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23493

iss049e035512 (10/14/2016) --- NASA astronaut Kate Rubins during Microbe IV Sampling Sheet and White Tube Collection in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Pressurized Module (JPM). The JAXA KIBO Utilization scenario, studies the relationship between humans and microbes in space habitation environments, which are critical for success in long-duration missions.

iss073e0001398 (April 23, 2025) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 73 Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers prepares mixture tubes containing research samples for the Nanoracks Module-9 series of student-designed space experiments. Ayers was working at the Harmony module's maintenance work area aboard the International Space Station.

A model Sample Recovery Helicopter drives and positions itself over a sample tube during a test in the Mars Yard at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Two Sample Recovery Helicopters are slated to fly to Mars as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign. NASA is developing the Sample Recovery Helicopters to serve as backups to the agency's Perseverance rover in transporting sample tubes to the Sample Retrieval Lander. These helicopters are follow-ons to NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which arrived at the Red Planet in the belly of Perseverance in February 2021. The Sample Recovery Helicopters have wheels instead of feet, as well as a small manipulator arm with a two-fingered gripper capable of carrying precious sample tubes. Testing of the Sample Recovery Helicopters is ongoing. The testbed was made by AeroVironment Inc. Movie available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25320

The robotic arm on NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its percussive drill to eject fragments of cored rock from a sample tube on Jan. 15, 2022, the 322nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. One of the rover's hazard cameras (hazcam) obtained same-day, before-and-after images of the surface below the rover to help better understand the results of this operation. There are two versions of the image: Animation frame 1 shows the ground below Perseverance prior to the use of the rover's percussive drill on Jan. 15. Animation frame 2 shows the same ground later that same day, after the percussive drill was employed. In this second image, at least eight new pieces of rock fragments can be seen. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Animation available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25070

Perseverance chief engineer, JPL, Adam Steltzner, shows a sample tube that will hold sample core’s collected from the Mars surface during a NASA Perseverance rover mission engineering and technology overview, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Perseverance Mars rover is due to land on Mars Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Associate Administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen, shows a sample tube that will hold sample core’s collected from the Mars surface during a NASA Perseverance rover press briefing about the search for ancient life at Mars and about samples to be brought back to Earth on a future mission, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Perseverance Mars rover is due to land on Mars Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Associate Administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen, shows a sample tube that will hold sample core’s collected from the Mars surface during a NASA Perseverance rover press briefing about the search for ancient life at Mars and about samples to be brought back to Earth on a future mission, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Perseverance Mars rover is due to land on Mars Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

This Mastcam-Z image shows Perseverance's drill with no cored-rock sample evident in the sample tube. The image was taken on Sept. 1, 2021 (the 190th sol, or Martian day, of the mission), after coring – and after a cleaning operation was performed to clear the sample tube's lip of any residual material. The bronze-colored ring is the coring bit. The half-moon inside the bit is the open end of the sample tube. A portion of the tube's serial number – 266 – can be seen on the left side of tube's rim. Arizona State University in Tempe leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24803

Perseverance's Sampling and Caching System Camera, or CacheCam, captured this time-lapse series of images of the rover's 14th rock-core sample. Taken over four Martian days (or sols) – on Sols 595, 599, 601, and 604 of the mission (Oct. 22, Oct. 26, Oct. 28, and Oct. 31, 2022) – they document the results of the mission's use of the rover's Bore Sweep Tool to remove dust from the tube. Small dust grains can be seen moving around the rim of the sample tube. The tool is designed to clean the inner surface near the tube's opening and also move the collected rock sample further down into the tube. Because the CacheCam's depth of field is plus or minus 5 millimeters, the rock sample, which is farther down in the tube, is not in focus in these images. The pixel scale in this image is approximately 13 microns per pixel. The images were acquired on Oct. 5. When the rover attempted to insert a seal into the open end of the tube, the seal did not release as expected from its dispenser. The bright gold-colored ring in the foreground is the bearing race, an asymmetrical flange that assists in shearing off a sample once the coring drill has bored into a rock. The sample collection tube's serial number, "184," can be seen in the 2 o'clock position on the bearing race. About the size and shape of a standard lab test tube, these tubes are designed to contain representative samples of Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Animation available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25337

The first cored sample of Mars rock acquired by NASA's Perseverance rover is sealed inside its titanium container tube in this image taken by rover's Sampling and Caching System Camera (known as CacheCam). The image was taken on Sept. 6, 2021 (the 194th sol, or Martian day, of the mission), after the seal was attached and hermetically fixed in place onto the tube. The seal's item and serial numbers can be seen near the center of the disk. An additional set of images shows the tube before and after sealing. Perseverance engineers designed a visual check to confirm the hermetic seal. The distance between the two rings outside the item and serial numbers increases. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Animation available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24807

This image shows a concept model of NASA's orbiting sample container, which will hold tubes of Martian rock and soil samples that will be returned to Earth through a Mars sample return campaign. At right is the lid; bottom left sits a model of the sample-holding tube. The sample container will help keep contents at less than about 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) to help preserve the Mars material in its most natural state. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are solidifying concepts for a Mars sample return mission after NASA's Mars 2020 rover collects rock and soil samples and stores them in sealed tubes on the planet's surface for future return to Earth. In the new campaign, NASA will deliver a Mars lander in the vicinity of Jezero Crater, where Mars 2020 will have collected and cached samples. The lander will carry a NASA rocket (the Mars Ascent Vehicle) along with an ESA Sample Fetch Rover that is roughly the size of NASA's Opportunity Mars rover. The fetch rover will gather the cached samples and carry them back to the lander for transfer to an orbiting sample container embedded in the ascent vehicle; additional samples could also be delivered directly by Mars 2020. The ascent vehicle will then launch the container holding the samples into Mars orbit. ESA will put a spacecraft in orbit around Mars before the ascent vehicle launches. This spacecraft will rendezvous with the orbiting sample container and also carry a NASA payload that can capture and contain the sample container before returning the samples to Earth. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23712

NASA's Perseverance rover deposited the first of several sample tubes onto the Martian surface on Dec. 21, 2022, the 653rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This composite image of the tube, filled with a sample of igneous rock, is made up of a series of stitched-together images taken by a camera called WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) on the end of the rover's 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm. Perseverance has been taking duplicate samples from each rock target the mission selects. After having dropped its first sample on the surface, the rover now has 17 samples in its belly, including one atmospheric sample. Based on the architecture of the Mars Sample Return campaign, the rover would deliver samples to a robotic lander carrying a small rocket that would blast them off to space. The depot will serve as a backup if Perseverance can't deliver its samples. In that case, a pair of Sample Recovery Helicopters would be called upon to pick up the sample tubes and deliver them to the lander. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25663

Engineers react with surprise while testing how NASA's Perseverance rover will deposit its sample tubes on the Martian surface. Less than 5% of the time, a flat end on the sample tube caused it to land straight up after dropping. This test was conducted using OPTIMISM, a full-scale replica of Perseverance, in the Mars Yard at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Perseverance has been taking duplicate samples from each rock target the mission selects. After depositing one sample on the surface Dec. 21, 2022, the rover has 17 samples in its belly, including one atmospheric sample. Based on the architecture of the Mars Sample Return campaign, the rover would deliver samples to a robotic lander carrying a small rocket that would blast them off to space. The depot will serve as a backup if Perseverance can't deliver its samples. In that case, a pair of Sample Recovery Helicopters would be called upon to pick up the sample tubes and deliver them to the lander. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Movie available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25677

During the NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission, pristine samples of Mars rock and regolith (broken rock and dust) will be collected and sealed inside collection tubes. At strategic locations during the rover's drive, these tubes will be deposited onto the Martian surface to create collection points, or "depots." This marks the first phase of the Mars Sample Return campaign, which will be followed by the Sample Retrieval Lander mission in the late 2020s. Tasked with collecting these containers for their eventual return to Earth, the Sample Retrieval Lander will be the first Mars mission to land at a specific location already scouted out from the surface. As such, to enable such a precise landing close to one of these depots, the lander will carry enough fuel make a propulsive divert maneuver (powered by its rocket thrusters) after being slowed down sufficiently by its parachute on entering the Martian atmosphere. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24164

This photomontage shows each of the sample tubes shortly after they were deposited onto the surface by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover, as viewed by the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera on the end of the rover's 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm. Shown, from left, are "Malay," "Mageik," "Crosswind Lake," "Roubion," "Coulettes," "Montdenier," "Bearwallow," "Skyland," "Atsah," and "Amalik." Deposited from Dec. 21, 2022, to Jan. 28, 2023, these samples make up the sample depot Perseverance built at "Three Forks," a location within Mars' Jezero Crater. Perseverance's sample depot is a collection of 10 sample tubes left on the Martian surface in a zig-zag pattern. These tubes represent a backup collection of rock cores and regolith (broken rock and dust) that could be recovered in the future by the NASA-ESA (European Space Agency) Mars Sample Return campaign, which aims to bring Mars samples to Earth for closer study. Perseverance will be collecting more samples on its journey that will be considered the primary samples for return, but the mission team wants to make sure backups are available in case anything happens to the rover. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25738

Shown here is a representation of the 21 sample tubes (containing rock, regolith, atmosphere, and witness materials) that have been sealed to date by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. Red dots indicate the locations where each sample was collected. Squares outlined in red show the texture of an area about 2 inches (5 centimeters) across on a particular rock sample after it was worn down by the rover's abrasion tool (with the exception of "Observation Mountain," which is an image of the surface of a pile of regolith, or broken rock and dust). The one or two squares immediately to the right of each red-outlined square shows an image of the top of each sample tube after the sample was acquired. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25674

After the NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission has collected pristine samples of Mars rock and regolith (broken rock and dust) and deposited them inside collection tubes, they will be dropped off at strategic locations (called "depots") along the rover's driving route. This will be the first phase of the Mars Sample Return campaign. In the late 2020's, NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) will send the Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL) mission to Mars to collect those sample tubes from the surface. To accomplish this, the lander will make a pinpoint landing near Perseverance's driving route and dispatch its Sample Fetch Rover (SFR) that will then drive to retrieve the sample tubes. This map shows possible driving routes (yellow lines) for Perseverance at Jezero Crater and the potential locations where the depots might be located. The green lines show possible Sample Fetch Rover pathways that can access these depot locations. The large number of possible SRL landing locations and SFR traverse pathways is indicative of the high degree of resiliency inherent in the overall Mars Sample Return architecture. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24165

This illustration shows NASA's Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), which will carry tubes containing Martian rock and soil samples into orbit around Mars, where ESA's Earth Return Orbiter spacecraft will enclose them in a highly secure containment capsule and deliver them to Earth. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25078

This image shows a cylinder of rock the size of a piece of classroom chalk inside the drill of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. The sample, dubbed "Green Gardens," was taken from a rock called "Tablelands" on the rim of Mars' Jezero Crater. The image was captured by the Mastcam-Z instrument on Feb. 16, 2025, the 1,420th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Each core the rover takes is about 0.5 inches (13 millimeters) in diameter and 2.4 inches (60 millimeters) long. Data from the rover's instruments indicates that Tablelands is made almost entirely of serpentine minerals, which form when large amounts of water react with iron- and magnesium-bearing minerals in igneous rocks. During this process, called serpentinization, the rock's original structure and mineralogy change, often causing it to expand and fracture. Byproducts of the process sometimes include hydrogen gas, which can lead to the generation of methane in the presence of carbon dioxide. On Earth, such rocks can support microbial communities. Arizona State University leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program (MEP) portfolio and the agency's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26529

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with several of the 10 sample tubes it deposited at a sample depot it is creating within an area of Jezero Crater nicknamed "Three Forks." The image was taken by the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera on the end of the rover's robotic arm on Jan. 22, 2023, the 684th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The ninth tube dropped during the construction of the depot, containing the sample the science team refers to as "Atsah," can be seen in front of the rover. Other sample tubes are visible in the background. In an animated GIF, the rover looks down at the "Atsah" sample then back at the camera. The selfie is composed of 59 individual WATSON images that were stitched together once they were sent back to Earth. The Curiosity rover takes similar selfies using a camera on its robotic arm; videos explaining how the rovers take their selfies can be found here. The depot marks a crucial milestone in the NASA-ESA (European Space Agency) Mars Sample Return campaign that aims to bring Mars samples to Earth for closer study. The depot will serve as a backup if Perseverance can't deliver its samples to a future robotic lander. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Animation available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25681

Angie Jackman, manager of the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) project, holds a 3D-printed model of the tubes NASA's Perseverance rover is already filling with Martian rock and soil samples. Set to be the first rocket to launch from another planet, the MAV is designed to carry the sealed samples into orbit around Mars. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25074

This image taken by the front left hazard camera (hazcam) aboard NASA's Mars Perseverance rover shows the cored-rock sample remaining in the sample tube after the drill bit was extracted from the bit carousel on Jan. 7, 2022. The sample was collected from a rock in the "South Séítah" region of Jezero Crater on Dec. 29, 2021. This image has been processed to enhance contrast. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25067

This map shows where NASA's Perseverance Mars rover will be dropping 10 samples that a future mission could pick up. The orange circles represent areas where a Sample Recovery Helicopter could safely operate to acquire the sample tubes. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25678

Shown here is an annotated representation of the 13 sample tubes containing rock-core samples that are being carried aboard NASA's Perseverance rover as of Dec. 12, 2023, when the mission was marking its 1,000th Martian day, or sol, on the Red Planet. To the right of each sample is the associated abrasion patch that was created at the same location where the core was extracted. The images of the samples and patches are grouped into gray boxes labeled with the name of the four rover science campaigns during which they were collected, from initial campaign to current: Crater Floor, Delta Front, Upper Fan, and Margin. The images of the cored samples were collected by the Sampling and Caching System Camera (known as CacheCam). Directly below each image of a cored sample is its name, as chosen by the Perseverance science team. The images of the abrasion patches were collected by the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera on the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) instrument. WATSON is located at the end of Perseverance's robotic arm, and takes images from about 3 inches (7 centimeters) away from each rock surface. Perseverance abrades rocks using a tool on the robotic arm in order to clear away dust and any surface weathering or coatings. Then other instruments analyze the abraded patch to determine if scientists want to collect a sample from the rock. Each abraded patch is 2 inches (5 centimeters) in diameter. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26232

This image from NASA Curiosity rover just after discarding a soil sample as part of its first decontamination exercise. A small amount of remnant material is visible inside the delivery tube, which is magnified in the blow-up at lower right.

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins uses a hammer to get a drive tube into the ground to collect a pristine soil sample during a¬¬ nighttime simulated moonwalk in the San Francisco Volcanic Field in Northern Arizona on May 16, 2024. The drive tube is the key piece of hardware for preserving the integrity of samples from the Moon. Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel

This image taken by the Mastcam-Z camera aboard NASA's Perseverance rover on Sept. 4, 2021, confirmed that the rover had retained a rock core in the sample tube held in the drill at the end of its robotic arm. After Perseverance drilled the hole called "Montdenier" in the rock nicknamed "Rochette" on Sept. 1 and acquired the rock core, which is slightly thicker than a pencil, the rover vibrated it to clear any material stuck between the coring bit and the sample tube within the bit. The rover then conducted additional imaging to double-check that it retained the rock. This image has been processed to enhance contrast. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24832

This illustration shows a concept for multiple robots that would team up to ferry to Earth samples of rocks and soil being collected from the Martian surface by NASA's Mars Perseverance rover. NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) are developing concepts for the Mars Sample Return program, designed to retrieve the rock and soil samples Perseverance has collected and stored in sealed tubes. In the future, the samples would be returned to Earth for detailed laboratory analysis. The current concept envisions delivering a Mars lander near Jezero Crater, where Perseverance (far left) collects samples. A NASA-provided Sample Retrieval Lander (far right) would carry a NASA rocket (the Mars Ascent Vehicle). Perseverance would gather sample tubes it has cached on the Mars surface and transport them to the Sample Retrieval Lander, where they would then be transferred by a Sample Transfer Arm provided by ESA onto the Mars Ascent Vehicle. The arm is based on a human arm, with an elbow, shoulder, and wrist. The Mars Ascent Vehicle would launch a container with the sample tubes inside into orbit. Waiting in Mars orbit would be an ESA-provided Earth Return Obiter, which would rendezvous with and capture the Orbiting Sample Container using a NASA-provided Capture, Containment, and Return System. This system would capture and orient the container, then prepare it for return to Earth inside the Earth Entry System. Also depicted is one of two Sample Recovery Helicopters NASA will develop to be transported to Mars on the Sample Retrieval Lander, just as the Ingenuity helicopter was carried on the Perseverance rover. The helicopters would serve as backups to Perseverance in transporting sample tubes to the Lander. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25326

This annotated map shows the locations where NASA's Perseverance Mars rover collected its first witness tube and filled its first six samples. The name that the Perseverance science and operations teams used to define a rock target on the Martian surface appears at the top of each inset image. Also indicated is the Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission and whether the image shows a target that has been abraded for proximity science or from which a core sample was taken. Before collecting a sample, Perseverance uses its drill to abrade the upper few millimeters of the rock surface close to the intended coring target. Those inset images annotated with the word "abrade" were captured by the rover's WATSON imager. Those with "core" were taken by the rover's CacheCam, which visually inspects a sample tube after a coring event takes place. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25065

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Sample Caching System Sterile Flight Model hardware was installed on the Mars Perseverance rover on May 21, 2020. The system includes 39 sample tubes. Each tube is sheathed in a gold-colored cylindrical enclosure to protect it from contamination. Perseverance rover will carry 43 sample tubes in total to Mars' Jezero Crater. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Sample Caching System Sterile Flight Model hardware is being prepared for installation on the Mars Perseverance rover on May 20, 2020. The system includes 39 sample tubes that will be inserted into the underside of the rover. Each tube is sheathed in a gold-colored cylindrical enclosure to protect it from contamination. Perseverance rover will carry 43 sample tubes in total to Mars' Jezero Crater. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers prepare to install the Sample Caching System Sterile Flight Model hardware on the Mars Perseverance rover on May 21, 2020. The system includes 39 sample tubes that will be inserted into the underside of the rover. Each tube is sheathed in a gold-colored cylindrical enclosure to protect it from contamination. Perseverance rover will carry 43 sample tubes in total to Mars' Jezero Crater. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Sample Caching System Sterile Flight Model hardware is being prepared for installation on the Mars Perseverance rover on May 21, 2020. The system includes 39 sample tubes that will be inserted into the underside of the rover. Each tube is sheathed in a gold-colored cylindrical enclosure to protect it from contamination. Perseverance rover will carry 43 sample tubes in total to Mars' Jezero Crater. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

This diagram, superimposed on a photo of Martian landscape, illustrates a concept called "adaptive caching," which is in development for NASA's 2020 Mars rover mission. In addition to the investigations that the Mars 2020 rover will conduct on Mars, the rover will collect carefully selected samples of Mars rock and soil and cache them to be available for possible return to Earth if a Mars sample-return mission is scheduled and flown. Each sample will be stored in a sealed tube. Adaptive caching would result in a set of samples, up to the maximum number of tubes carried on the rover, being placed on the surface at the discretion of the mission operators. The tubes holding the collected samples would not go into a surrounding container. In this illustration, green dots indicate "regions of interest," where samples might be collected. The green diamond indicates one region of interest serving as the depot for the cache. The green X at upper right represents the landing site. The solid black line indicates the rover's route during its prime mission, and the dashed black line indicates its route during an extension of the mission. The base image is a portion of the "Everest Panorama" taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit at the top of Husband Hill in 2005. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19150

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to take this image of the location where three of its 10 sample tubes will be deposited. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25679

Engineers use OPTIMISM, a full-size replica of NASA's Perseverance rover, to test how it will deposit its first sample tube on the Martian surface. The test was conducted in the Mars Yard at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Movie available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25676

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide,Expedition 33 flight engineer,is photographed performing microbial White Tube sampling in the JPM (JEM Pressurized Module) with wet wipes and sampling sheets for the JAXA MICB (MICROBE-3) experiment.

iss070e117532 (March 14, 2024) --- Expedition 70 Flight Engineer and NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps prepares tubes to collect samples from the crew for the Immunity Assay investigation. Immunity Assay looks at the impact of spaceflight on cellular immune functions in blood samples, tests that could only previously be conducted on Earth.

This illustration shows a concept for a proposed NASA Mars lander-and-rocket combination that would play a key role in returning to Earth samples of Mars material collected by the Perseverance rover. This Sample Retrieval Lander would carry a small rocket (about 10 feet, or 3 meters, tall) called the Mars Ascent Vehicle to the Martian surface. After using a robotic arm to load the rover's sealed sample tubes into a container in the nose cone of the rocket, the lander would launch the Mars Ascent Vehicle into orbit around the Red Planet. The lander and rocket are part of the multimission Mars Sample Return program being planned by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). The program would use multiple robotic vehicles to pick up and ferry sealed tubes containing Mars samples already collected by NASA's Perseverance rover, for transport to laboratories on Earth. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25278

As part of a Mars sample return mission, a rocket will carry a container of sample tubes with Martian rock and soil samples into orbit around Mars and release it for pick up by another spacecraft. This illustration shows a concept for a Mars Ascent Vehicle (left) releasing a sample container (right) high above the Martian surface. NASA and the European Space Agency are solidifying concepts for a Mars sample return mission after NASA's Mars 2020 rover collects rock and soil samples and stores them in sealed tubes on the planet's surface for potential future return to Earth. NASA will deliver a Mars lander in the vicinity of Jezero Crater, where Mars 2020 will have collected and cached samples. The lander will carry a NASA rocket (the Mars Ascent Vehicle) along with an ESA Sample Fetch Rover that is roughly the size of NASA's Opportunity Mars rover. The fetch rover will gather the cached samples and carry them back to the lander for transfer to the ascent vehicle; additional samples could also be delivered directly by Mars 2020. The ascent vehicle will then launch from the surface and deploy a special container holding the samples into Mars orbit. ESA will put a spacecraft in orbit around Mars before the ascent vehicle launches. This spacecraft will rendezvous with and capture the orbiting samples before returning them to Earth. NASA will provide the payload module for the orbiter. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23500

ISS013-E-56052 (23 July 2006) --- European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Reiter, Expedition 13 flight engineer, works with sample tubes in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station.

jsc2019e063626 (Nov. 5, 2019) --- Sample 73002 after being extruded Nov. 5, 2019 from its Apollo 17 drive tube container at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

This illustration shows a concept of how the NASA Mars Ascent Vehicle, carrying tubes containing rock and soil samples, could be launched from the surface of Mars in one step of the Mars sample return mission. NASA and the European Space Agency are solidifying concepts for a Mars sample return mission after NASA's Mars 2020 rover collects rock and soil samples and stores them in sealed tubes on the planet's surface for potential future return to Earth. NASA will deliver a Mars lander in the vicinity of Jezero Crater, where Mars 2020 will have collected and cached samples. The lander will carry the ascent vehicle along with an ESA Sample Fetch Rover that is roughly the size of NASA's Opportunity Mars rover. The fetch rover will gather the cached samples and carry them back to the lander for transfer to the ascent vehicle; additional samples could be delivered directly by Mars 2020. The ascent vehicle will then launch from the surface and deploy a special container holding the samples into Mars orbit. ESA will put a spacecraft in orbit around Mars before the ascent vehicle launches. This spacecraft will rendezvous with and capture the orbiting samples before returning them to Earth. NASA will provide the payload module for the orbiter. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23496

This illustration shows a concept for a set of future robots working together to ferry back samples from the surface of Mars collected by NASA's Mars Perseverance rover. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are solidifying concepts for a Mars sample return mission that would seek to take the samples of Martian rocks and other materials being collected and stored in sealed tubes by NASA's Mars Perseverance rover and return the sealed tubes to Earth. According to the current concept, NASA would deliver a Mars lander in the vicinity of Jezero Crater, where Perseverance (left) will have collected and cached samples. The Sample Retrieval Lander (right) would carry a NASA rocket (the Mars Ascent Vehicle), along with ESA's Sample Fetch Rover (center) that is roughly the size of the Opportunity Mars rover. The fetch rover would gather the cached samples and carry them back to the lander for transfer to the ascent vehicle; additional samples could also be delivered directly by Perseverance. The ascent vehicle would then launch a special container holding the samples into Mars orbit. ESA would put a spacecraft in orbit around Mars before the ascent vehicle launches. This spacecraft would rendezvous with and capture the orbiting samples before returning them to Earth. NASA would provide the capture and containment payload module for the orbiter. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24870

These sets of images were taken between March 13 and 15, 2021 (the 22nd and 24th Martian days, or sols, of NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance mission) show doors opening and closing on parts of the Sample Caching System aboard the rover. Perseverance's Sample Caching System consists of three robotic components that will work in concert to collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and dust), seal them in tubes, and deposit those tubes on the surface of Mars for retrieval by a future mission. Perseverance is the first rover to bring a sample caching system to Mars. The first set of images, taken by Perseverance's Navigation Cameras, shows a door opening on the upper part of the bit carousel, a flying-saucer-like component that stores drill bits for the system's coring tool. It transfers bits with empty sample tubes onto the rover's robotic arm and also collects bits containing filled sample tubes from the coring tool. The second set of images shows a door opening on the lower part of the bit carousel, as seen under the rover's belly. They were taken by the WATSON camera, a part of the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter technology demonstration activity is supported by NASA's Science Mission Directorate, the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, and the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory built and manages operations of Perseverance and Ingenuity for the agency. Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages JPL for NASA. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Animations available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24497

jsc2019e063585 (Nov. 5, 2019) --- (From left) Andria Mosie, Charis Krysher and Juliane Gross, lunar sample curators, positioning the Apollo 17 drive tube prior to removing from its teflon bag and extruding sample 73002 at NASA's Johnson Space Center. The extrusion, which occurred Nov. 5, 2019 at Johnson Space Center in Houston, was done as part of NASA’s Apollo Next-Generation Sample Analysis initiative

iss071e062589 (5/7/2024) --- A view of the Gaucho Lung Sample Pouch aboard the International space station (ISS). The Wicking in Gel-Coated Tubes (Gaucho Lung) investigation studies fluid transport within gel-coated tubes to learn more about treatment programs for respiratory distress syndrome and develop new contamination control strategies.

Gaseous Nitrogen Dewar apparatus developed by Dr. Alex McPherson of the University of California, Irvine for use aboard Mir and the International Space Station allows large quantities of protein samples to be crystallized in orbit. The specimens are contained either in plastic tubing (heat-sealed at each end). Biological samples are prepared with a precipitating agent in either a batch or liquid-liquid diffusion configuration. The samples are then flash-frozen in liquid nitrogen before crystallization can start. On orbit, the Dewar is placed in a quiet area of the station and the nitrogen slowly boils off (it is taken up by the environmental control system), allowing the proteins to thaw to begin crystallization. The Dewar is returned to Earth after one to four months on orbit, depending on Shuttle flight opportunities. The tubes then are analyzed for crystal presence and quality

Ian Clark walks past mission countdown clocks in the Perseverance offices at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The Lab instituted a suite of safe@work procedures — based on the guidance of occupational safety medical personnel — to ensure those working at JPL are social distancing, wearing protective equipment and have ready access to hand sanitizer and other cleaning supplies during the coronavirus pandemic. Clark is one of a small subset of project personnel whose mission-essential job required physical access to the facility. He was on-Lab to supervise the assembly and cleaning of the sample tubes that will hold Martian sediment and rock for return to Earth on a future mission. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23830

This annotated image from NASA's Perseverance Mars rover shows its wheel tracks in Jezero Crater and a distant view of the first potential location it could deposit a group of sample tubes for possible future return to Earth. The image was taken on Aug. 29, 2022, the 542nd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission, by Perseverance's navigation camera. Sample tubes already filled with rock are currently stored in the rover's Sampling and Caching System. Perseverance will deposit select samples in designated locations. Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign. This image has been linearized to remove optical lens distortion effects. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25243

This illustration shows a concept for a proposed NASA Sample Retrieval Lander that would carry a small rocket (about 10 feet, or 3 meters, tall) called the Mars Ascent Vehicle to the Martian surface. After being loaded with sealed tubes containing samples of Martian rocks and soil collected by NASA's Perseverance rover, the rocket would launch into Mars orbit. The samples would then be ferried to Earth for detailed analysis. The lander is part of the multi-mission Mars Sample Return program being planned by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25277

ISS009-E-28769 (14 October 2004) --- Astronaut Edward M. (Mike) Fincke, Expedition 9 NASA ISS science officer and flight engineer, uses a Dual Sorbent Tube and its associated pump to take routine air samples in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station (ISS).

jsc2022e042489 (9/23/2021) --- Preflight image of a rack of tubes containing soil samples that have been inoculated with a model soil consortium for the Dynamics of the Microbiome in Space (DynaMoS) investigation, examines how microgravity affects metabolic interactions in communities of soil microbes. Image courtesy of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

ISS009-E-28772 (14 October 2004) --- Astronaut Edward M. (Mike) Fincke, Expedition 9 NASA ISS science officer and flight engineer, uses a Dual Sorbent Tube and its associated pump to take routine air samples in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station (ISS).

This illustration shows NASA's Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) in powered flight. The MAV will carry tubes containing Martian rock and soil samples into orbit around Mars, where ESA's Earth Return Orbiter spacecraft will enclose them in a highly secure containment capsule and deliver them to Earth. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25076

iss073e0001404 (4/23/2025) --- NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers prepares mixture tubes containing research samples for the Nanoracks Module-9 series of student-designed space experiments. Ayers was working at the Harmony module's maintenance work area aboard the International Space Station.

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured this image of a sample cored from a rock called "Bunsen Peak" on March 12, 2024, the 1,088th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission. The image shows the bottom of the core. The image was taken by Perseverance's Sampling and Caching System Camera, or CacheCam, located inside the rover's underbelly. The camera looks down into the top of sample tubes to take close-up pictures of the sampled material and the tubes as they are prepared for sealing and storage. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26313

A Memphis student working at the University of Alabama in Huntsville prepares samples for the first protein crystal growth experiments plarned to be performed aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The proteins are placed in plastic tubing that is heat-sealed at the ends, then flash-frozen and preserved in a liquid nitrogen Dewar. Aboard the ISS, the nitrogen will be allowed to evaporated so the samples thaw and then slowly crystallize. They will be analyzed after return to Earth. Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

A Memphis student working at the University of Alabama in Huntsville prepares samples for the first protein crystal growth experiments plarned to be performed aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The proteins are placed in plastic tubing that is heat-sealed at the ends, then flash-frozen and preserved in a liquid nitrogen Dewar. Aboard the ISS, the nitrogen will be allowed to evaporated so the samples thaw and then slowly crystallize. They will be analyzed after return to Earth. Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

Memphis students working at the University of Alabama in Huntsville prepare samples for the first protein crystal growth experiments plarned to be performed aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The proteins are placed in plastic tubing that is heat-sealed at the ends, then flash-frozen and preserved in a liquid nitrogen Dewar. Aboard the ISS, the nitrogen will be allowed to evaporated so the samples thaw and then slowly crystallize. They will be analyzed after return to Earth. Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

Light Microscopy Modle, LMM, Ground Unit Testing, GU. Control Systems Engineer using a small magnet to maneuver a 1mm metal stir-bar into a colloid sample fluid-filled capillary. The capillary tubes of sample fluid will be filled and sealed. The sample fluid supplied by a Principal Investigator typically contains some hazardous/toxic chemicals that she must ensure will not leak and put the astronauts at risk. On-orbit on the LMM, ‘insitu mixing’ is used, which uses electromagnetic inductors to stimulate the metal stir-bar to mix the fluid within the sealed capillary.

S69-40945 (August 1969) --- This is a core tube sample under study and examination in the Manned Spacecraft Center?s (MSC) Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL). The sample was among lunar soil and rock samples collected by astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. during their extravehicular activity (EVA) on July 20, 1969. While astronauts Armstrong, commander; and Aldrin, lunar module pilot; descended in the Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" to explore the Sea of Tranquility landing site on the moon. Astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Columbia" in lunar orbit.

S69-45002 (26 July 1969) --- A close-up view of the lunar rocks contained in the first Apollo 11 sample return container. The rock box was opened for the first time in the Vacuum Laboratory of the Manned Spacecraft Center’s Lunar Receiving Laboratory, Building 37, at 3:55 p.m. (CDT), Saturday, July 26, 1969. The gloved hand gives an indication of size. This box also contained the Solar Wind Composition experiment (not shown) and two core tubes for subsurface samples (not shown). These lunar samples were collected by astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. during their lunar surface extravehicular activity on July 20, 1969.

NASA’s C-130 aircraft cargo hold is open for offloading of the Adaptive Caching Assembly (ACA) for NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch and Landing Facility in Florida on May 11, 2020. The ACA consists of seven motors and more than 3,000 parts, all working in unison to collect samples from the surface of Mars. A chief component of the assembly is the Sample Handling Arm, which will move sample tubes to the main robotic arm's coring drill and then transfer the filled sample tubes into a space to be sealed and stored. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

Workers offload the Adaptive Caching Assembly (ACA) for NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover from the agency’s C-130 aircraft at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch and Landing Facility in Florida on May 11, 2020. The ACA consists of seven motors and more than 3,000 parts, all working in unison to collect samples from the surface of Mars. A chief component of the assembly is the Sample Handling Arm, which will move sample tubes to the main robotic arm's coring drill and then transfer the filled sample tubes into a space to be sealed and stored. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured this image of a rock core nicknamed "Otis Peak" on June 12, 2023, the 822nd day, or sol, of the mission. The image shows the bottom of the Otis Peak core, which was collected from a conglomerate rock called "Emerald Lake." The distinctly colored areas are individual minerals (or rock fragments) transported by the river that once flowed into Mars' Jezero Crater. The image was taken by Perseverance's Sampling and Caching System Camera, or CacheCam, located inside the rover underbelly. The camera looks down into the top of a sample tube to take close-up pictures of the sampled material and the tube as it's prepared for sealing and storage. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25962

Preparations are underway to offload the Adaptive Caching Assembly (ACA) for NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover from the agency’s C-130 aircraft at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch and Landing Facility in Florida on May 11, 2020. The ACA consists of seven motors and more than 3,000 parts, all working in unison to collect samples from the surface of Mars. A chief component of the assembly is the Sample Handling Arm, which will move sample tubes to the main robotic arm's coring drill and then transfer the filled sample tubes into a space to be sealed and stored. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

Workers use a special handling device to offload the Adaptive Caching Assembly (ACA) for NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover from the agency’s C-130 aircraft at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch and Landing Facility in Florida on May 11, 2020. The ACA consists of seven motors and more than 3,000 parts, all working in unison to collect samples from the surface of Mars. A chief component of the assembly is the Sample Handling Arm, which will move sample tubes to the main robotic arm's coring drill and then transfer the filled sample tubes into a space to be sealed and stored. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

NASA’s C-130 aircraft arrives at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch and Landing Facility in Florida on May 11, 2020, carrying the Adaptive Caching Assembly (ACA) for NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover The ACA consists of seven motors and more than 3,000 parts, all working in unison to collect samples from the surface of Mars. A chief component of the assembly is the Sample Handling Arm, which will move sample tubes to the main robotic arm's coring drill and then transfer the filled sample tubes into a space to be sealed and stored. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

A close-up view of NASA’s C-130 aircraft that carries the Adaptive Caching Assembly (ACA) for NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover as it arrives at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch and Landing Facility in Florida on May 11, 2020. The ACA consists of seven motors and more than 3,000 parts, all working in unison to collect samples from the surface of Mars. A chief component of the assembly is the Sample Handling Arm, which will move sample tubes to the main robotic arm's coring drill and then transfer the filled sample tubes into a space to be sealed and stored. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

The Adaptive Caching Assembly (ACA) for NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover arrives aboard NASA’s C-130 aircraft at the Launch and Landing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 11, 2020. The ACA consists of seven motors and more than 3,000 parts, all working in unison to collect samples from the surface of Mars. A chief component of the assembly is the Sample Handling Arm, which will move sample tubes to the main robotic arm's coring drill and then transfer the filled sample tubes into a space to be sealed and stored. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

Workers use a special handling device to offload the Adaptive Caching Assembly (ACA) for NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover from the agency’s C-130 aircraft at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch and Landing Facility in Florida on May 11, 2020. The ACA consists of seven motors and more than 3,000 parts, all working in unison to collect samples from the surface of Mars. A chief component of the assembly is the Sample Handling Arm, which will move sample tubes to the main robotic arm's coring drill and then transfer the filled sample tubes into a space to be sealed and stored. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

Workers prepare to offload the Adaptive Caching Assembly (ACA) for NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover from the agency’s C-130 aircraft at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch and Landing Facility in Florida on May 11, 2020. The ACA consists of seven motors and more than 3,000 parts, all working in unison to collect samples from the surface of Mars. A chief component of the assembly is the Sample Handling Arm, which will move sample tubes to the main robotic arm's coring drill and then transfer the filled sample tubes into a space to be sealed and stored. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

Workers begin to offload the Adaptive Caching Assembly (ACA) for NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover from the agency’s C-130 aircraft at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch and Landing Facility in Florida on May 11, 2020. The ACA consists of seven motors and more than 3,000 parts, all working in unison to collect samples from the surface of Mars. A chief component of the assembly is the Sample Handling Arm, which will move sample tubes to the main robotic arm's coring drill and then transfer the filled sample tubes into a space to be sealed and stored. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

This illustration shows the proposed Capture, Containment, and Return System, a NASA payload on the European Space Agency's Earth Return Orbiter. As part of the Mars Sample Return Campaign, samples collected by NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover would be launched into Mars orbit within sealed tubes inside an Orbiting Sample container. The Earth Return Orbiter would then rendezvous with this container, and the Capture, Containment, and Return System would be tasked with capturing the Orbiting Sample container, orienting it, sterilizing its exterior, and transferring it into a clean zone for secondary containment, toward safe return to Earth. The Capture, Containment, and Return System is part of the multi-mission Mars Sample Return program being planned by NASA and European Space Agency (ESA). https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25860

This illustration depicts three different of models of NASA's solar-powered Mars helicopter. In the upper right is the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, currently operating at Jezero Crater. Depicted in the foreground is one of two Sample Recovery Helicopters slated to fly to Mars as part of the Mars Sample Return Campaign. NASA is developing the Sample Recovery Helicopters to serve as backups to the agency's Perseverance rover in transporting sample tubes to the Sample Return Lander. In the upper center of image is the Mars Science Helicopter concept. A proposed follow-on to Ingenuity, the six-rotor Mars Science Helicopter could be used during future Mars missions to serve as an aerial scout and carry between 4.5 and 11 pounds (2 to 5 kilograms) of payload, including science instruments, to study terrain that rovers can't reach. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25338

Mars Sample Return program manager, JPL, Bobby Braun, shows a concept model of NASA's orbiting sample container, which will hold tubes of Martian rock and soil samples that will be returned to Earth through a Mars sample return campaign during a NASA Perseverance rover press briefing about the search for ancient life at Mars and about samples to be brought back to Earth on a future mission, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Perseverance Mars rover is due to land on Mars Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Mars Sample Return program manager, JPL, Bobby Braun, shows a concept model of NASA's orbiting sample container, which will hold tubes of Martian rock and soil samples that will be returned to Earth through a Mars sample return campaign during a NASA Perseverance rover press briefing about the search for ancient life at Mars and about samples to be brought back to Earth on a future mission, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Perseverance Mars rover is due to land on Mars Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

In this illustration of a Mars sample return mission concept, a robotic arm transfers samples of Martian rock and soil from a fetch rover onto a lander. NASA and the European Space Agency are solidifying concepts for a Mars sample return mission after NASA's Mars 2020 rover collects rock and soil samples and stores them in sealed tubes on the planet's surface for potential future return to Earth. NASA will deliver a Mars lander in the vicinity of Jezero Crater, where Mars 2020 will have collected and cached samples. The lander will carry a NASA rocket (the Mars Ascent Vehicle) along with ESA's Sample Fetch Rover that is roughly the size of NASA's Opportunity Mars rover. The fetch rover will gather the cached samples and carry them back to the lander for transfer to the ascent vehicle; additional samples could also be delivered directly by Mars 2020. The ascent vehicle will then launch from the surface and deploy a special container holding the samples into Mars orbit. ESA will put a spacecraft in orbit around Mars before the ascent vehicle launches. This spacecraft will rendezvous with and capture the orbiting samples before returning them to Earth. NASA will provide the payload module for the orbiter. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23495

ISS006-E-08784 (14 December 2002) --- View of a bubble formed as a result of a Zeolite Crystal Growth (ZCG) experiment in the Destiny laboratory on the International Space Station (ISS). Expedition Six Commander Kenneth D. Bowersox used a Space Station drill to mix 12 Zeolite samples in clear tubes. Scientists on the ground watching on TV noticed bubbles in the samples. Bowersox used a modified mixing procedure to process autoclaves to isolate bubbles. He re-inserted the samples in the ZCG furnace in Express Rack 2 in the U.S. laboratory/Destiny. This experiment has shown that the bubbles could cause larger number of smaller deformed crystals to grow. Bowersox rotated the samples so that the heavier fluid was thrown to the outside while the lighter bubbles stayed on the inside.