Mars Sample Return
The world is trying to return samples from Mars for the first time ever
The samples might tell us if life ever developed somewhere other than Earth
I helped design the plan for how we're going to pull it off
It's going to take three missions to do it
The first mission has safely landed on Mars and is starting its operations
I'm now leading the team developing the science program for how to work with them when they get here
Key Publications
Haltigin et al. 2018. A draft mission architecture and science management plan for the return of samples from Mars. Astrobiology 18(S1), doi:10.1089/ast.2018.29027.mars (link)
Mars Sample Return Science Planning Group (MSPG) 2019. A framework for Mars returned sample science management. Unpublished white paper, posted12/11/19 at https://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/reports.cfm?expand=mspg (link)