source of organic compounds that led to the formation of life. It reached the proximity of Bennu on 3 December 2018, where it began analyzing its surface for a target sample area over the next several months. It collected its sample on 20 October 2020, and is expected to return to Earth on 24 September 2023. China launched the Chang'e 5 lunar sample return mission on November 23, 2020, which returned to Earth with 2 kilograms of lunar soil on December 16, 2020. It was first lunar sample return in over 40 years. Future missions Russia has plans for Luna-Glob missions to return samples from the Moon by 2027 and Mars-Grunt to return samples from Mars in the late 2020s. JAXA is developing the MMX mission, a sample-return mission to Phobos that will be launched in 2024. MMX will study both moons of Mars, but the landing and the sample collection will be on Phobos. This selection was made because of the two moons, Phobos's orbit is closer to Mars and its surface may have particles blasted from Mars. Thus the sample may contain material originating on Mars itself. A propulsion module carrying the sample is expected to return to Earth in approximately September 2029. China will launch the Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission in 2023. China is also planning a mission called Tianwen-2 to return samples from 469219 Kamoʻoalewa which is planned to launch in 2024. China plans for a Mars sample return mission by 2030. Also, the Chinese Space Agency is designing a sample-retrieval mission from Ceres that would take place during the 2020s. NASA and ESA has long planned a Mars Sample-Return Mission, which is only now coming to fruition. The Perseverance rover, deployed in 2020, is collecting drill core samples and stashing them on the Mars surface. A joint NASA-ESA mission to return them is planned for the late twenties, consisting of a lander to retrieve the samples and raise them into orbit, and an orbiter to return them to Earth. Comet sample-return missions also continue to be a NASA priority. Comet Surface Sample Return was one of the six themes for proposals for NASA's fourth New Frontiers mission in 2017. Methods of sample return Sample-return methods include, but are not restricted to the following: Collector array A collector array may be used to collect millions or billions of atoms, molecules, and fine particulates by