NASA’s Perseverance Rover Deposits First Martian Rock Sample

Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA has taken a major step in bringing Mars samples back to Earth after its Perseverance rover deposited its first rock-filled tube on the Red Planet’s surface for collection by a mission scheduled for later.

Perseverance rover has been gathering samples of the Martian since landing there in February 2021. The rover deposited its first sample-filled tube on December 21. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) oversees Perseverance’s mission and calls it “one small drop for humankind.”

Nine More Titanium Tubes Remaining

Over the course of the next two months, the rover will deposit nine more titanium tubes at the same location, known as “Three Forks,” as it builds what the space agency calls “humanity’s first sample depot on another planet.”

The rover will also keep duplicate samples of each one it deposits at the depot. During the Mars Sample Return mission, scheduled for 2033, the rover will try to deliver its samples to a robotic lander deployed by NASA.

Perseverance will then use its robotic arm to transfer the tubes to a capsule that will be fitted into a small rocket. This rocket will take off from Mars and deliver the collection to a spacecraft that will bring them back to Earth.

Suppose the rover fails to deliver its samples to the lander. In that case, Sample Recovery Helicopters designed similarly to NASA’s Ingenuity aircraft will fly to the depot and gather the samples. Once the samples reach Earth, they will be out through deep analysis to help scientists understand how the planet evolved and confirm whether it harnessed ancient microbial life.

Chalk-sized Core Of Igneous Rock

As per NASA’s JPL, the first sample left at the depot is a chalk-size core of igneous rock called “Malay.” It was extracted from a Mars’ Jezero Crater region known as South Séítah on January 31, 2022.

“Perseverance’s complex Sampling and System took almost an hour to retrieve the metal tube from inside the rover’s belly, view it one last time with its internal CacheCam, and drop the sample roughly 3 feet (89 centimeters) onto a carefully selected patch of the martian surface,” JPL said in a post.