Goddard Engineering and Technology Directorate

The Capture, Containment and Return System (CCRS)

Artist's depiction of the proposed Capture, Containment, and Return System, a NASA payload on the European Space Agency’s Earth Return Orbiter.
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). Credit: NASA/GSFC

The Capture, Containment and Retrieval System (CCRS) is a payload that is a part of the joint Mars Sample Return mission between NASA and the European Space Agency. CCRS is made up of a Capture and Containment Module and Earth Return Module which picks up orbiting samples to bring them back to Earth. The work of the Engineering and Technology Directorate on the modules of CCRS is critical to ensuring the first ever successful return of samples from Mars.  

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