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The NASA roving robot has completed the crucial first step of a decade-long mission to bring pieces of Mars back to Earth, collecting rocks and preserving them in a waterproof blanket, after an unsuccessful attempt last month, according to Cnet.
On day 190 of its mission, the Perseverance robot rover overcame previous sampling issues and was able to extract part of the core of a small, bag-sized boulder of rock from the surface of Mars.
NASA scientists weren’t sure about the news, after taking photos that weren’t clear enough due to poor lighting conditions, but they confirmed in other images that arrived on Saturday that the robot was well able to keep the rock in a titanium tube.
announcement NASA said Monday the rover stored the sample inside, sealed in a titanium tube.
Understood! With better lighting in the sample tube, you can see that the rock core I collected is still there. Then I will process this sample and seal the tube. #SamplingMarch
Latest images: https://t.co/Ex1QDo3eC2 pic.twitter.com/gumqpmoXBW
– NASA Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) September 5, 2021
“We have it,” tweeted Adam Steltzner, chief engineer of the Perseverance robotic mission, after calling the sample “perfect.”
The first images show rusty red deposits that could be iron-rich minerals, according to Stephen Ruff, a planetary geologist at Arizona State University and founder of the Mars Guy YouTube channel.
This rock sample is the first of around 43 samples to be returned to Earth in a few years for analysis.
NASA aims to collect dozens of diverse rock samples, as diversity will be critical for the science team to compare rocks across Jezero Crater, which scientists say contained a deep lake 3 years ago. , 5 billion years ago, and to know more about the history of Mars, and if life existed on the planet.
The movement aims to search for signs of ancient life, such as traces of fossilized microbial life in rocks, and also to better understand the geology of Mars.
“For all of NASA’s science, this is truly a historic moment,” said NASA’s associate science administrator Thomas Zurbuchen on Monday.
Perseverance, the size of a large SUV, landed on February 18 in Jezero Crater, where this environment is believed to have created the conditions necessary for life beyond Earth.
A month ago, Perseverance drilled in softer rocks, and the sample collapsed and did not enter the titanium tube.
The probe traveled half a mile to a better location for sampling on another attempt. Team members analyzed the data and images before declaring success.
NASA and the European Space Agency plan to send a Martian lander and sampler to the surface of Mars in 2026, then the rover will take off and direct the 30 rocks to a rocket bound for Earth in the early 2030s.
If the plan goes well and the rock samples reach Earth, this will be the first time humans have brought back material from another planet.
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