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that of NASA Perseverance rover has taken a new step on Mars by drilling its first hole to sample rock from the Red Planet.
The drill hole marks only one step of a sampling process it will take around 11 days in total, according to previous NASA statements, which should mean that if all goes well, the entire procedure will be completed just in time for the rover to celebrate its six months since landing on March, February 18.
“My first borehole on Mars!” the mission’s Twitter account announced on Friday (August 6) with an image of the hole. “Collecting and storing rock samples is an important and complex task, and it is a huge step. Next step: processing. “
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Perseverance is designed to study geology and search for traces of long-lost life on the Red Planet by exploring what scientists have dubbed Crater lake, which they believe to be the bed of a lake billions of years ago.
Drilling on Mars is nothing new for Perseverance, the predecessor of the car-sized rover Curiousity did the same task a dozen times during his nine years on the Red Planet. However, Curiosity selected rocks to drill only for its own study instruments. Perseverance, instead, will analyze the samples and pack them for a future mission to be transported to laboratories on Earth.
Before drilling, the the mission team announced that this rock sample is perhaps the oldest that Perseverance collects throughout its work. Scientists are particularly excited for the new sample because they do not yet know if the rock is volcanic or formed by layers of deposits at the bottom of the lake.
Email Meghan Bartels at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @meghanbartels. follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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