Nasa Mars rover may have snagged first rock sample for return to Earth
- Mars Perseverance rover attempts to collect its first rock sample
- Nasa plans to bring around 30 samples back to Earth in the 2030s
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Nasa’s Perseverance rover succeeded in its second attempt to scoop up a piece of Martian rock for future analysis by scientists on Earth – probably.
Its first effort last month failed after the rock was too crumbly to withstand the robot’s drill, but data received late on September 1 indicates the process worked this time around.
The US space agency said on Thursday it remains a little uncertain, because images taken after the rover’s arm completed sample acquisition were inconclusive due to poor sunlight conditions.
More images taken under better lighting were expected back by Saturday.
“The team determined a location, and selected and cored a viable and scientifically valuable rock,” Jennifer Trosper, project manager at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said in a statement.
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“We will work through this small hiccup with the lighting conditions in the images and remain encouraged that there is sample in this tube.”
The target was a briefcase-sized rock nicknamed “Rochette” from a ridge line that is 900 metres long.
Perseverance, Nasa’s latest Mars rover, landed on the planet’s Jezero crater – the site on an ancient lake – in February on a mission to search for signs of ancient microbial life.
Its turret-mounted scientific instruments are able to determine chemical and mineral composition and look for organic matter, as well as better characterise the planet’s geological processes.
It uses a drill and a hollow coring bit at the end of its two-metre-long robotic arm to extract samples slightly thicker than a pencil, which it stores under its belly.
Nasa plans a mission to bring around 30 samples back to Earth in the 2030s, where scientists will be able to conduct more detailed analysis that might confirm there was microbial life.
