Nasa and Esa want to bring Martian rocks to Earth. Here’s what will happen to the samples once they get here

By John Bridges, Professor of Planetary Science, University of Leicester

A mission will deliver rock and soil from Mars to laboratories on Earth in the 2030s. Mars Sample Return (MSR) is led by Nasa with participation from the European Space Agency (Esa). The mission will allow scientists to use the best laboratory instruments on Earth to determine whether Mars hosted microbial life billions of years ago.

So what will happen to the samples once they arrive on Earth?

Nasa’s…

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