Sample return mission

A sample return mission, (Eng. about sample return mission ) is a space mission in extraterrestrial samples of astronomical objects such as planets, moons and small bodies be returned to Earth for analysis.

Missions

Apollo 11 was the first successful sample return mission. Overall, the Apollo program brought 382 kg of rock, dust, sand, and drill core samples from the Earth's moon back to Earth. Unmanned missions were Luna 16, 20 and 24, Stardust, Genesis, Hayabusa and Fobos -Grunt. The latter is, however, already failed in Earth orbit. Future planned projects are OSIRIS - REx, Marco Polo, Mars Sample Return and Hayabusa 2

To see the future of cometary samples, NASA developed a kind of harpoon.