NASA’s Perseverance Rover Finally Drills First-Ever Rock From Red Planet

NASA's Mars Perseverance rover successfully bored into a Martian rock on Thursday. The drilling resulted in an undamaged core sample that might be returned to Earth in the future. However, before the piece is sealed and placed on the rover, the space agency needs better photos to ensure its safety in the tube.

Perseverance bored through a rock chosen by the mission's science team. The first pictures and the data transmitted back by the rover show an undamaged sample in the tube.

After the initial pictures, the rover shook the drill bit and tube for five one-second bursts to remove any remaining material from the tube's exterior. This led the sample to slip further down within the tube.

Perseverance Rover Chief Engineer Adam Steltzner noted on Twitter the one "beautifully perfect" sample.

Now that is one beautifully perfect cored sample, if I do say so myself! Be patient, little sample, your journey is about to begin. #SamplingMars https://t.co/jOtNGKjeAe
— Adam Steltzner (@steltzner) September 2, 2021

The rover is carrying 43 similar tubes, Business Insider said. So NASA expects this is the first of many.

NASA To Take Better Photos of Sample

In a statement, NASA said that the photos obtained after were unresolved due to poor light conditions. Before doing the next phases of the sampling process, the agency said that Perseverance will utilize its cameras to capture more pictures in improved lighting circumstances.

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Successfully Cores Its First Rock — This Sept. 1 image from NASA’s Perseverance rover shows a sample tube with its cored-rock contents inside. The bronze-colored outer-ring is the coring bit. The lighter-colored inner-ring is the open end of the tube, and inside is a rock core sample slightly thicker than a pencil. In a later image, the rock sample was not clearly evident inside the tube. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

After Perseverance tried to drill into a different rock target on August 5, the extra step of collecting more pictures before sealing and stowing the sample tube was introduced. The rock shattered during that effort, and there was no sample in the tube after it was kept.

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NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's mission project manager Jennifer Trosper said per The New York Times that the project obtaining its first cored rock beneath its belt is already an extraordinary accomplishment. She noted that the crew chose and cored a feasible and scientifically useful rock after determining a location.

According to Trosper, they completed the task at hand. She added that they will get past that minor snag with the illumination in the photos and remain optimistic that there is a sample in the tube.

The rover typically uses its rotary percussive drill to drill rocks and a hollow coring bit, collecting samples a little thicker than a pencil. This sample device is attached to the rover's robotic arm, 2.1 meters (7 feet) long.

Perseverance Now In Jerezo's Citadelle Region

Perseverance is currently investigating the Citadelle area in the Jezero Crater, which was initially the site of an ancient lake billion of years ago, Space.com said. The rover's precise objective was Rochette, a rock the size of a suitcase that belongs to a half-mile ridgeline of boulders and rock outcrops.

By September 4, the mission crew should have more photos of what is inside the sample tube. If pictures taken when the sun is at a better angle do not reveal if a sample is there, the tube will be shut and the volume measured by the rover.

If Perseverance collects samples from Mars successfully, they will be delivered to Earth by later missions. They might indicate if life indeed happened on Mars.

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