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NASA has spent nine years and nearly $ 2 billion digging up and storing samples of Martian rocks. The Perseverance rover was set to finally do so for the first time on Friday.
The rover picked up a boulder at the bottom of an ancient Martian lake that may have contained alien life and attempted to dig. But then a strange thing happened: the sample seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
There is a finger-sized hole in the rock where the sample should come out, but there is nothing in the rover’s sample tube. The rock core is not located anywhere near the crater. That is not here.
Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA, said in a press release. “I have no doubts that we have the right team working on this, and we will push for a solution to ensure future success.”
To find out what happened, NASA asked Perseverance to take close-up photos of the borehole you made. Mission controllers will then attempt to make plans to attempt further sampling.
“The initial thought is that the empty tube is more likely the result of the rock target not interacting as we expected while drilling, and less likely that there is a hardware problem with the system. sampling and buffering, ”said Jennifer Trosper, Perseverance project manager. , with the current situation. “Over the next few days, the team will be spending more time analyzing the data we have, as well as obtaining additional diagnostic data to help understand the root cause of the empty tube.”
The main goal of Persistence on Mars is to explore an area called Jezero Crater and collect rock samples; The tube that came out empty is one of the 43 tubes that the rover carries for this purpose. NASA’s long-term plan is to send another mission to Mars in about a decade to collect samples collected by Perseverance and send them back to Earth. Then future scientists will be able to determine if microbial life lived in the lake that once filled the basin.
In other words, much of the planning and money depends on the persistence ability to successfully extract these specimens.
Mars keeps NASA on its toes
In its attempt to take the first sample, Perseverance first used an abrasive tool to remove dust and surface coatings from the rocks. Then the rover extended its 7-foot-long arm, at the end of which is a sample collection instrument. This tool uses a hammer drill to hammer a hollow bit into the rock.
The whole process is independent. Mission controllers simply send a “go” command to persistence.
Data returned to Earth by the rover from its attempt to date indicates that it has performed the necessary steps exactly as planned. Yet for some reason the tube is empty.
The persistent rocks you are trying to sample are typical of the area you were passing through. The floor of the Jezero crater is covered with what NASA calls “cobblestones”. These porous rocks can be sedimentary (that is, formed by the activity of rivers and lakes) or volcanic. Taking a sample will help scientists determine the type of rocks lining the crater floor, improving their understanding of the history of the area.
Other Martian missions also encountered unexpected difficulties due to rocks and soil. NASA recently had to give up its Insight “mol” landing, a screening instrument that was supposed to penetrate the Martian crust and measure its temperature. The mole found itself bouncing on solid ground called “duracrust”.
“I’ve been on every rover mission to Mars since the start, and this planet always teaches us what we don’t know about it,” Trosper said. “One thing I have found is that it is not uncommon for complications to arise with complex activities for the first time.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
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