Marco Polo (spacecraft)

The Marco Polo was a proposed sample-return mission concept by the European Space Agency (ESA), initially conceived in the early 2010s. The mission aimed to collect and return samples from a near-Earth asteroid (NEA). Specifically, the target asteroid was initially proposed to be 175706 (1996 FG3), a carbonaceous (C-type) asteroid.

The primary objective of Marco Polo was to analyze the returned asteroid sample in terrestrial laboratories to gain insights into the composition and formation of the solar system, as well as the origins of water and organic molecules on Earth. The scientific rationale behind the mission focused on the astrobiological significance of carbonaceous asteroids, which are believed to contain primitive materials that hold clues to the building blocks of life.

The Marco Polo mission involved a spacecraft that would rendezvous with the target asteroid, perform detailed remote sensing observations, and then collect a representative sample of the asteroid's surface material. The sample would then be sealed in a return capsule and sent back to Earth for analysis.

While the initial Marco Polo mission was not selected for implementation as a standalone mission, its scientific goals and technological developments were subsequently incorporated into other ESA projects, notably the Hera mission. The Hera mission, a component of the Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) collaboration with NASA, studies the binary asteroid system Didymos following NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) impact. The data gathered by Hera is aimed at enhancing our understanding of asteroid composition and structure, contributing to planetary defense efforts, and building upon the scientific goals initially envisioned for the Marco Polo mission. The Marco Polo heritage also influenced later mission proposals and studies related to asteroid exploration and sample return.