Some of the biggest discoveries we make in planetary science rely on the seemingly simple act of picking up and analyzing pieces of other worlds. Mars rovers like Curiosity are small-scale rolling laboratories that do their work on site, while missions like OSIRIS-REx are optimized to bring samples all the way home.

No matter the end goal, sample collection is hard! That's why The Planetary Society partnered with Honeybee Robotics on PlanetVac, a simple, reliable, low-cost sampling system designed to work in almost any planetary environment. In 2013, we helped fund a successful PlanetVac lab test, and this spring, we're helping Honeybee take the technology a step further. We’ll be announcing the details soon.

In the meantime, we're revisiting the general concept of planetary sampling, and some of the times it didn't quite go as planned. When things go awry, scientists and engineers can sometimes squeeze amazing science out of a tough situation. Here are ten times the solar system reminded us sample collection is hard, and why The Planetary Society is interested in projects like PlanetVac.

1. WHEN YOUR SAMPLE RETURN SPACECRAFT NEVER EVEN LEAVES EARTH