Know anything about this one...
Alex,
Do you know anything about this one:
SCIM (Sample Collection for Investigation of Mars)
Almost 5 years ago I made an informal proposal of a "poor man's sample return" to the managers. It involved a low drag entry vehicle (based upon a military RV) skimming the upper atmosphere of Mars collecting dust in a shock tube with aerogel in its back end. The concept was dead-on-arrival (never got past the conversation phase). The main criticism was it had no opportunity for interesting science (read "exobiology").
Gary