Long description

A multi-part diagram entitled Recovery and containment: Mars rock core samples. It is divided horizontally into two halves. The top half shows the first four steps: 1. bag enclosure, 2. case enclosure; 3 transport to staging; 4 vault enclosure. The bottom half shows the final step, Sample receiving facility.

1. Bag enclosure reads: Earth entry system (EES) containing orbiting sample (OS) lands in Utah mud flats. EES is bagged. A schematic of a cone-shaped spacecraft with a cylinder in the centre. A downward arrows shows that this is put into a bag.
2. Case enclosure reads: Bagged EES is stored in case. Landing site cleaned using heat and/or chemical sterilisation. A schematic shows the silhouette of two people in protective clothing spraying something onto the bag, which is now contained in a case.
3. Transport to staging reads: Case containing EES with sample is transported to staging area. An artists impression of a helicopter is shown carrying the case underneath.
4. Vault enclosure reads: Case containing EES is placed in a value and transported to Sample Receiving facility (SRF). A photograph of a truck carrying the case is shown and the truck is labelled ‘vault’.
5. Sample Receiving Facility reads: Vault enclosing case containing EES arrives at Sample Receiving Facility. An artists impression of the truck is shown to the left of a white building. An arrow extends from the truck, to show the case containing the EES passing through the facility. First the vault is disassembled and inspected. Then the EES is removed from the case and bag. Then the OS containing sample tubes is removed from the OS. A sample tube is shown, which is a long cylinder sealed at both ends with Mars core rock in the middle.