Date set for Mars sample mission

[Rick]

Space officials have set a date of 2018 for launching an unmanned international mission designed to return samples of Martian rock and soil to Earth.

Mars Sample Return is billed as the most complex and costliest exploration of Mars ever conceived.

Once samples are on Earth, laboratories will be able to extract more data than by remote control using, for example, a robotic rover on the Martian surface.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7500371.stm