Has anything ever been returned from Mars?

Depends on what you mean. Nothing manmade has ever gone to Mars and returned, and no spacecraft has ever returned a Martian rock or soil sample. That being said, we actually do have a number of Martian rocks. read more

Nothing manmade has ever gone to Mars and returned, and no spacecraft has ever returned a Martian rock or soil sample. That being said, we actually do have a number of Martian rocks. Very occasionally, when a meteorite strikes the surface of Mars, it imparts enough energy that some of the impact debris achieve escape velocity. read more

Once sealed, a small rocket called a Mars Ascent Vehicle will launch the capsule from the surface of Mars. From this point, there are several possible approaches to bringing the sample to Earth. The most practical of these appears to be using an orbiter to capture the sample container while it is in Mars orbit. read more