PHILADELPHIA — NASA's Mars Sample Return Mission aims to bring 30 samples of rock, soil and atmosphere now being collected by the Perseverance rover back to Earth sometime in the early 2030s. The goal is to look for signs of past life and also to find out more about the Red Planet before humans visit it.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reached out to NASA's Jet Propulsion laboratory with questions derived from comments members of the public posed after a presentation in May by NASA about the mission. Mars Sample Return scientists Michael Meyer and Lindsay Hays responded.
Why can't samples be sterilized before returning to Earth?
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