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[Energetic music] 
Hi, I'm Raquel Villanueva,

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here at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory.

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Now, it has been a dream of
scientists for generations

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to bring back samples
from the surface of Mars.

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Right now, the Mars 2020 rover
is laying the groundwork

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for that to happen.

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And, that's why I'm in the
In-Situ Instrument Laboratory

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with Jessica Samuels.

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And, she's here to tell us
what's going on here.

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[Jessica Samuels] Well, we use
this facility to develop and

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design our hardware and software
systems for our Mars missions.

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[Raquel] And, how does the
sampling system work.

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[Jessica] So, we have a drill on
the end of our robotic arm.

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And, as we are drilling the
surface of Mars, we will be

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collecting pieces of Mars into
the sample tube at that time.

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We'll then transfer
that sample tube

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into the inside of the rover
and then seal it for storage

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as we continue to
explore the surface.

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After we've collected a
diverse set of samples,

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we will drop them off
onto the surface...

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[Raquel] Yeah.

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[Jessica]...and then
have them there

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for a future sample return
mission to continue.

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[Raquel] Well, I know you have
some tests to keep doing

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and I'm actually gonna go
check out the next phase

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at a different lab.

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We're in a testing lab
affectionately known as the

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"Sand Box" and I'm here
with Austin Nicholas.

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Now, can you explain how we are

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gonna bring back
samples from Mars?

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[Austin Nicholas] So,
starting from after 2020

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has deposited tubes
on the surface,

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there are two more
missions to go in

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bringing the tubes
back to Earth.

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The first is a lander mission.

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It carries three major elements:

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a Sample Fetch Rover and
a Sample Transfer Arm

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that lets you transfer
the samples from

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the Fetch Rover into the rocket,

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and a Mars Ascent
Vehicle which is a rocket

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that brings the samples
from Mars into space.

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Meanwhile, the orbiter has also
launched from Earth in 2026 and

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is making its way towards Mars
and it'll be in position

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by the time the
rocket's fully loaded.

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The orbiter will then go to the
sample container that the

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rocket's put into space
and then capture it,

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ultimately bringing
them to Earth in 2031.

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[Raquel] That sounds
complicated.

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[Austin] It is complicated

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but fortunately we're
not doing it alone.

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So, we have a great partnership
with the European Space Agency

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and they're providing some major
pieces of this mission.

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Within NASA, we've actually got
a number of centers working on

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all of the different pieces.

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So, we're partnering with
Marshall Space Flight Center

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for the Mars Ascent Vehicle,

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Langley and Ames for the
Earth Entry Vehicle,

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Glenn for the Sample
Fetch Rover wheels

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and we're partnering with
Goddard for the orbiter payload.

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And so there's really a...
it's a whole NASA effort

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to get Mars Sample Return done.

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[Raquel] Sounds like there is
a lot of work to be done,

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but this all kicks off with the
launch of Mars 2020 this summer

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in Cape Canaveral, Florida,

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and there's lots
of excitement here