NASA plunged robust Mars sample-return gear into a U.S. desert

NASA is preparing for a mission.

The Mars Sample Return Campaign is a partnership between NASA and the European Space Agency that will send rock samples from Mars to Earth.

In the video above, a helicopter drops a shell from 1,200 feet above the Utah Test and Training Range. The plan was for it to hit the ground without breaking apart.

Jim Corliss, a Mars, said that the MDU was stable during the descent and it survived the impact.

The precious Martian samples were collected in tubes by the Perseverance rover and will be returned to the Utah desert in the early 20th century.