Top Results for Sample Return

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft undertook a NASA mission to study the asteroid Bennu. Launched in 2016, it successfully collected a sample from the near-Earth object and returned it to Earth in 2023. This represents the first U.S. mission to acquire an extraterrestrial material sample. Scientists utilize...

Chang’e 6 is a Chinese space mission successfully delivering lunar samples from the Moon’s far side in December 2024. This represents the first time a robotic spacecraft has collected and returned material from this permanently shadowed region. The mission's data and samples are valuable for scienti...

The Chang’e 5 spacecraft represents a significant achievement in space exploration. Launched by China in 2020, it successfully retrieved lunar samples from the Oceanus Procellarum region of the Moon. This mission returned approximately 1.7 kilograms of material, providing valuable data for scientist...

The Hayabusa mission, developed by JAXA, successfully retrieved microscopic samples from the asteroid Itokawa in 2010. This marked a historic first, as it was the initial space mission to return material collected from an extraterrestrial body. Scientists utilize these samples to study the compositi...

Luna 20 was an uncrewed Soviet lunar mission that landed on the Moon and returned a soil sample to Earth in 1972. Its spacecraft collected material from the Apollonius highlands, providing a sample from a geologically different region than the mare terrain sampled by Luna 16. The ascent stage carrie...

Luna 16 was an uncrewed Soviet lunar probe launched in September 1970 by the Soviet Union. It achieved the distinction of being the first spacecraft to successfully perform an automated lunar sample return mission. The spacecraft landed in the Mare Fecunditatis region of the Moon, utilized a drill t...

Luna 24 was a Soviet robotic lunar sample return mission launched in August 1976. It successfully landed in Mare Crisium, drilled approximately 2 meters into the lunar surface, and returned 170.1 grams of regolith to Earth. The mission was the final flight of the Soviet Luna program and represented...

Tianwen-3 is a planned Mars sample return mission developed by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). Building upon the success of the Tianwen-1 orbiter and rover, this mission aims to land on the Martian surface, collect soil and rock samples, and return them to Earth for laboratory analys...

The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) is a robotic space mission currently in development by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The mission is designed to survey Mars's two moons, Phobos and Deimos, and to collect and return a surface sample from Phobos to Earth. By analyzing these samples...

Chandrayaan-4 is a planned lunar sample-return mission led by the Indian Space Research Organisation. Its objective is to land near the Moon's south polar region, collect surface material, launch that material from the lunar surface, and return it safely to Earth for laboratory analysis. The mission...

Chang'e 5-T1 was a Chinese lunar test mission launched in 2014 to demonstrate technologies required for the later Chang'e 5 sample-return mission. The spacecraft traveled around the Moon and released a return capsule that reentered Earth's atmosphere at the high speed associated with a lunar traject...

Tianwen-2 is a Chinese planetary exploration mission focused first on near-Earth asteroid 2016 HO3, also designated 469219 Kamo'oalewa. The spacecraft is intended to study the asteroid, collect a surface sample, and return that material to Earth. After the sample-return phase, the main spacecraft is...

The Mars Sample Return Campaign is a NASA and European Space Agency effort designed to bring Martian geological material to Earth for laboratory study. The samples were collected and sealed by NASA's Perseverance rover in Jezero Crater, where they record aspects of the planet's rocks and past enviro...

Fobos-Grunt, also written Phobos-Grunt, was a Russian interplanetary spacecraft launched on 8 November 2011 to study and return a sample from Phobos, one of Mars's moons. The spacecraft reached low Earth orbit, but its propulsion stage failed to perform the burns needed to begin the journey to Mars,...