Mars Sample Return Planetary Protection Report Released
Mars Sample Return Planetary Protection Report Released
http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2009/05/mars_sample_ret.html
"Importance of Mars Sample Return
A sample-return mission is acknowledged to be a major next step in the exploration of
Mars because it can address so many high-priority science goals. The NRC’s 2003 solar
system exploration decadal survey, for example, highlighted three areas where
unambiguous answers to key science issues areunlikely without a sample return
mission:
- The search for life;
- Geochemical studies and age dating; and
- Understanding of climate and coupled atmosphere-surface-interior processes."