- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
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- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
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- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
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- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
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- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
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- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
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- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
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- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
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- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Odegaard injury has forced Arsenal to be 'different', says Arteta
- Ratcliffe refuses to guarantee Ten Hag's Man Utd future
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Mauritius to hold legislative election on November 10
- Britain qualify for America's Cup final after 60-year wait
- IMF asks Sri Lanka to protect hard-won gains
- Morata returns to Spain Nations League squad after injury
- Irish regulator to probe Ryanair use of facial recognition
- Public allowed to see video evidence in France mass rape trial
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- Under-fire Ten Hag 'together' with Man Utd hierarchy
- Guardiola talks of Man City love affair as financial hearing rumbles on
- De Bruyne out of Belgium Nations League squad
- Japanese trainer Yahagi hopes Shin Emperor achieves 50-year-old Arc dream
- UK's Starmer hails 'landmark' carbon capture funding
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- Bosnia floods kill 14 people
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NASA details plans to bring back Mars rock samples
NASA plans to bring 30 Martian rock samples back to Earth in 2033, the agency said Wednesday -- and is sending two small helicopters to help the mission.
The Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in February 2021, has so far collected 11 samples as part of its hunt for signatures of ancient life.
But bringing them back for detailed lab study on Earth is proving to be a highly complex task.
Up until now, NASA was planning on sending another rover to Mars to pick up the samples from Perseverance then bring them to a robotic lander equipped with its own rocket, called the Mars Ascent Vehicle.
This in turn would fire the samples into orbit where they would be collected by a European spaceship.
Now, however, the second "Sample Fetch Rover" has been scrapped and Perseverance itself will deliver the precious cargo directly to the lander, which will use a robot arm to extract it.
But since NASA always plans for contingencies, it has a backup plan in case Perseverance becomes immobilized.
The lander, which should launch from Earth in 2028 and land on Mars in mid-2030, will also carry two mini helicopters.
Perseverance brought with it its own helicopter, called Ingenuity, which carried out the first powered flight on another world, and has now made a total of 29 sorties.
The two new helicopters will be a little heavier, equipped with wheels to be able to move on the ground as well, and come with a small arm allowing them to recover the samples.
In this scenario, Perseverance would first drop the samples on the ground, the helicopters would pick them up, then place them next to the ascent vehicle.
The orbiter would be set to return to Earth in the Utah desert in 2033.
H.Portela--PC