Demo
    Diagram showing the Secondary Containment Vessel, Orbiting Sample, Primary Containment Vessel, and Earth Entry System with descriptions of their functions and physical properties.
    This graphic showed during one of NASA’s public briefings on the environmental risks of Mars Sample Return illustrates how the samples would be ensconced inside two vessels within the Earth Entry System spacecraft that would return them to Earth.
    Aerial view of a tethered landing pad used for drone or spacecraft landing on a desert terrain. Small structures and vehicles are visible on the ground below.
    NASA’s Langley and Ames research centers are leading development of the disk-shaped Earth Entry System spacecraft and heat shield that would protect the sealed container of Martian dirt and rocks samples as they plow through the atmosphere upon return to Earth. Engineers in April dropped a test article of the heat shield outfitted with sensors from an altitude of 365 meters to simulate the impact.