CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

About the event (Introduction) 
10th anniversary of the milestone International Mars Sample Return Conference, which took place in July 2008 in Paris – co-hosted by ESA and CNES in cooperation with NASA and the International Mars Exploration Working Group (IMEWG). 

The 2nd International Conference on Mars Sample Return is scheduled to take place over 2.5 days from April 25-27, 2018 in Berlin, Germany.  The purpose of this conference is to establish better understanding of the options and the rationale for the internationalization of Mars Sample Return, given the 2018 context, to highlight recent accomplishments in Mars exploration that feed forward to Mars Sample Return, and to share international agency and private industry preparatory plans for future Mars missions relating to Mars Sample Return.

Sessions are planned to include content relating to:
- Mars Exploration – Recent accomplishments and current status of Mars exploration

- Mars Returned Sample Science - the scientific objectives of Mars Sample Return and their relevance in the current scientific context

- Planning for sample caching 

• The Mars-2020 Sample Caching Rover mission, landing sites, sampling system and sample caching strategies.

- The latest Mars architecture including Agency and Industry Concepts for Mars Sample Return

• Planning considerations associated with the orbiter and the Earth return vehicle
• Planning considerations associated with the sample retrieval lander, and the MAV
• Planning considerations associated with the sample receiving facility and sample curation

- Planning considerations associated with planetary protection 

- Concepts and planning for public outreach 

- Tech demos and exhibits