Artist's Concept of the Capture, Containment, and Return System

April 06, 2023

This artist’s concept shows the proposed Capture, Containment, and Return System, a NASA payload on the European Space Agency’s Earth Return Orbiter. The payload is tasked with capturing the Orbiting Sample container, orienting it, sterilizing its exterior, and transferring it into a clean zone for secondary containment, toward safe return to Earth.

The Capture, Containment, and Return System is part of the multi-mission Mars Sample Return program being planned by NASA and European Space Agency (ESA).

For more information, visit: mars.nasa.gov/msr.