The selection for the AIAA Mars sample return mission has began

When we think of rocketry, we commonly think of the impressive images and videos of spacecrafts being launched utilizing huge earth-shaking rockets, propelled through the skies by a scorching trail of exhaust and flames. These are our traditional thermochemical rocket thrusters, and since the advent of rocketry, they have been our most reliable way to get things out of our planet.