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This paper presents a global overview of current, planned and proposed sample missions. At present, missions are in progress to return samples from asteroids, comets and the interstellar medium. More missions are planned to Mars and the asteroids. Future sample return missions include more targets including Europa, Mercury and Venus. This review identifies the need for developing a coordinated international system for the handling and safety certification of returned samples. Such a system will provide added assurance to the public that all the participants in this new exploration arena have thought through the technical challenges and reached agreement on how to proceed. All these future returned sample missions hold relevance to the NASA Astrobiology program because of the potential to shed light on the origins of life, or even to return samples of biological interest.

The crucial challenge to astrobiology research on Mars is for the astronaut crews to conduct the search for life past and present from a Mars surface base. The Mars base will require a highly specialized astrobiology science laboratory to facilitate this research. This paper presents an incremental strategy to develop the laboratory technology and facility necessary to enable the astrobiology investigation on Mars. The distinguishing characteristic of an astrobiology research apparatus for the Mars surface science laboratory is that the research crew must work across a large pressure differential between the shirtsleeves cabin atmosphere and the Mars ambient atmosphere inside the apparatus. How to simulate that apparatus and its operations through Earth expeditions is an essential aspect of design development.

The NASA Mars Exploration Design Reference Mission asserts two equal goals: scientific exploration of Mars and human habitation on Mars. However, at present, the Design Reference Mission does not provide a substantive accommodation for the science component of Mars Exploration. This essay describes the design strategy to develop the Mars Surface Science capability as embodied in the crew, lab facilities at the base and mobile laboratories in the pressurized rover. Clearly, NASA has a great deal of work ahead to supply the mission requirements and design rationale the science laboratory capabilities at a human Mars Base. The purpose of this essay is to begin to create a specific focus on Mars’s surface science laboratory requirements, operations and accommodations