A 16-member Mars Sample Return Campaign Science committee was established by NASA and ESA

The crew will "revolutionise humanity's understanding of Mars by bringing scientifically selected samples to NASA's Mars Sample Return Campaign," according to NASA. The campaign will help the space agency achieve a goal of solar system exploration that has been a top priority for the organization since the 1970s.

Digital Desk: NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have established a new group of researchers in a bid to maximise the scientific potential of Mars rock and sediment samples that would be returned to Earth for in-depth analysis. The team of 16 researchers will be called the "Mars Sample Return Campaign Science Group" and will function as a science resource for the campaign’s project teams and for related Earth-based ground projects like sample recovery and curation.

NASA and ESA are partners in the Mars Sample Return Program.

The members of the Mars Sample Return Campaign Science Group are as follows:

1. Laura Rodriguez – NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Southern California

2. Michael Thorpe – Johnson Space Center Engineering, Technology and Science at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston / Texas State University, San Marcos

3. Audrey Bouvier – Bayerisches Geoinstitut, Universität Bayreuth, Germany

4. Andy Czaja – Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati

5. Nicolas Dauphas – Origins Laboratory, the University of Chicago

6. Katherine French – Central Energy Resources Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver

7. Lydia Hallis – School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK

8. Rachel Harris – Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Boston

9. Ernst Hauber – Institute of Planetary Research, German Aerospace Center, Germany

10. Suzanne Schwenzer – School of Earth, Environment, and Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University, UK

11. Andrew Steele – Earth and Planetary Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington

12. Kimberly Tait – Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Canada

13. Tomohiro Usui – Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

14. Jessica Vanhomwegen – Laboratory for Urgent Response to Biological Threats, Institut Pasteur, France

15. Michael Veibel – Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Michigan State University

16. Maria-Paz Zorzano Mier - Astrobiology Center, National Institute for Aerospace Technology, Spain

"These 16 people will serve as the face of Mars Sample Return science." In a press statement, Michael Meyer, lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said, "They will build the roadmap by which science for this historic endeavour is accomplished - including establishing the processes for sample-related decision-making and designing the procedures that will allow the worldwide scientific community to become involved with these first samples from another world."

The crew will "revolutionise humanity's understanding of Mars by bringing scientifically selected samples to NASA's Mars Sample Return Campaign," according to NASA. The campaign will help the space agency achieve a goal of solar system exploration that has been a top priority for the organization since the 1970s.

This collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) would be the first to return samples from another planet and the first to launch from another planet's surface. NASA's Resilience During its exploration of an old lakebed on Mars, the rover collected materials. These samples are regarded to have the best chance of revealing information about Mars' early development, including its potential for previous life.

Understanding Mars will help us learn more about other rocky planets like it, including Earth.