As rst has mentioned, details on how the Red Dragon would return from the Martian surface have so far been quite sketchy. However, the basic outline for a propo

As rst has mentioned, details on how the Red Dragon would return from the Martian surface have so far been quite sketchy. However, the basic outline for a proposed sample return mission involves having a Mars Ascent Vehicle pop off the top of the Red Dragon capsule to get the payload into low Mars orbit. Once there it jettisons the ascent stage and ignites a second stage to place it into a trajectory for trans-Earth injection. Essentially, it's packing a small two-stage rocket for the trip home. [1] It'll be interesting to find out if the payload capacity of the MAV is actually enough for a crewed capsule to be launched to rendezvous with an orbiting vessel (a la The Martian), or if that would require a much larger descent vehicle in the first place. [1] http://www.space.com/24984-spacex-mars-mission-red-dragon.html http://www.space.com/24984-spacex-mars-mission-red-dragon.ht...