The search for ancient life: The international quest to bring back samples from Mars

This presentation will provide an overview of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign, an international relay to bring back carefully selected rocks from Mars to Earth as early as 2031. These samples will allow scientists to go back in time by close to four billion years to understand Mars's early history, its ancient climate and environment, and possibly look for signs of life.

Tim Haltigin is the Senior Mission Scientist in Planetary Exploration at the Canadian Space Agency, where he helps lead Canada’s efforts in exploring the solar system. He received his PhD from McGill University, where his research revealed similarities in the evolution of ice-rich terrains on Earth and Mars. He was previously in the running to become Canada’s next astronaut, has worked on a variety of robotic missions throughout the solar system, and has an asteroid named after him (130066 timhaltigin). Tim is currently helping lead the development of the international science program for the Mars Sample Return campaign, a decade-long effort that started with the Perseverance rover landing.