The sample was drilled from a rock called “Rochette” from the Jazero crater. The rover circles the crater in search of traces of ancient microbial life.
The second core sample was taken from the same rock. (Photo: JPL)
Days after Perseverance collected the first samples brought back to Earth from Mars, the geologist on wheels successfully scooped another sample from inside a rock. The second regolith sample (rock material) was stored in the rover and hermetically sealed for future missions to retrieve.
The rover has explored Jazero Crater, where it landed in February this year, and has been able to search the region for potential sample locations. The sample was cored from a rock called “Rochette”. after it failed the first attempt in August.
“Two for two: I successfully processed and saved my second Martian sample, bringing my total to two Martian rock cores in one week,” the rover said in a tweet.
The rover made its first attempt to collect a sample in early August, but the rock crumbled during drilling and coring. For its second attempt, the rover drove to another location where the team picked a rock. Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory began the process of taking initial samples from the rock on September 1, with the rotating percussion drill at the end of Perseverance’s robotic arm drilling into flat Martian rock the size of a briefcase.
After two successful scoops, the Perseverance team is now looking for new potential locations to collect samples. The rover has over 40 sample tubes that are filled before the salvage missions arrive on the Red Planet to collect them for Earth.
The second drill picked up by the Perseverance rover. (Photo: JPL)
As part of the Mars Sample Return campaign, NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) are planning one Series of future missions to return the rover’s sample Tubes to earth for a closer examination. These samples would be the first scientifically identified and selected materials to be brought back to our planet from another.
In addition to the identification and collection of rock and regolith samples (rock fragments and dust) in the search for traces of ancient microscopic life, The mission of Perseverance includes studying the Jezero region Understand the geology and ancient habitability of the area, as well as characterize the past climate.
The rover is currently exploring the rocky outcrops and boulders of “Artuby,” a more than 900 meter long ridge line that borders two geological units believed to contain the deepest and oldest layers of the exposed bedrock of the Jezero crater.
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