In August , after approximately six calendar month on Mars , NASA’sPerseverance roverdrilled into a rock-and-roll on the red planet ’s Jezero Crater andtriedto draw out a sampling . unluckily , the rock fell to musical composition before the task was through . So the team made another attempt , target what they hop would be a tough rock about the size of a briefcase and fondly baptize “ Rochette . ”
The extraction operation quetch off on September 1 , once again using Perseverance ’s just about 3000 - piece sampling and caching system , which NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory interim film director Larry D. James scream “ the most complex mechanism ever sent into place . ”
This sentence , it worked .
As NASA declare in apress releaseon September 6 , Perseverance is now in will power of the first rock sample ever collected fromMars . The cylindrical core group is “ slightly thicker than a pencil , ” harmonize toNASA , and the system ’s photographic camera even snapped a photo of the top of it before seal it inside an airtight Ti thermionic valve . For now , the sample will stay on Mars while Perseverance investigates the volcanic crater ’s most challenging areas , admit the boulder - filled ridge of “ Artuby , ” near what scientists think is the Jezero Crater ’s oldest basic principle ; and the delta part , which used to be the rendezvous percentage point between a river and a lake .
There are programme to collect further rock samples throughout the journeying , as well as design to transport them back to Earth ( capably list the Mars Sample Return program ) . If and when the essence arrive , NASA will examine them for sign of ancient life and details aboutthe planet’sclimate account .
If you ’re concerned in hear more about the sample distribution compendium process and what it think for the future of Mars exploration , you’re able to tune into NASA ’s medium briefing on Friday , September 10 , at 12 p.m. EST . It ’ll be live - streamed onNASA TV , the NASAwebsite , and theNASA app .
