Sample Return From All Across the Solar System: A Keck Institute for Space Studies Study Program

The planetary science community has fully entered the era of analyzing returned samples from planetary bodies, following the recent successes of the Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 missions, as well as NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security - Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission. The Origins, Worlds and Life (OWL) Planetary Decadal Survey for the current 2023-2032 decade furthermore placed a very strong emphasis on sample return missions. Mars Sample Return is considered the highest priority mission for this decade. Sample return missions from the surface of a comet nucleus, and from Ceres, are among targets for upcoming rounds of New Frontiers missions.

In this study, we evaluate the science case for the analysis of returnee samples from most foreseeable places in the Solar System, consider the feasibility of accessing these bodies, and the state of development of technologies needed to maximize the science return from these missions. A first workshop took place in September 2024, and a second workshop will take place in late February 2025. This abstract reports on the first workshop, while the study outcomes following both workshops will be presented at the conference.