NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover Successfully Collects 2nd Rock This Week, NASA Expects More "Amazing Discoveries"

Just days after its first successful collection, NASA's Perseverance rover has successfully retrieved and safely stored its second sample of Martian rock.

The announcement was announced by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is in charge of the Mars mission, in a tweet on September 8.

During its investigation of Jezero Crater, a dried-up lake bed, Perseverance will continue to drill material from various rocks. While the rover will study the samples with its onboard sensors, a subsequent mission will attempt to bring the haul to Earth so scientists may use more sophisticated analytical techniques to learn more about Mars and its past.

NASA's assistant administrator for science, Thomas Zurbuchen, said in a statement that the agency expects "amazing discoveries" in various fields, including the investigation of whether life ever existed on Mars.

NASA's Perseverance Rover's Successful First Sample Collection

NASA had a reason to rejoice as the Perseverance rover successfully gathered its first Martian rock sample last week.

The Mars rover attempted a second time to gather data for the first time on September 5. According to Space.com, the Perseverance ensured that its second try was successful by taking extra time to ensure that the 6-centimeter-long core was safely retained in the tube before sealing it up on Saturday.

The first Martian rock sample from the Perseverance rover is currently in an airtight titanium sample container. The initial sample and every additional sample collected by the Mars rover will be returned to Earth in the 2030s. In a cooperative mission, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) will bring the Mars samples back to Earth.

Perseverance Rover's Previous Attempts To Get Samples

The first successful collection by the Mars rover was the robot's second attempt at obtaining a rock sample from the planet. This is because its initial effort failed.

Last month, the Perseverance rover made its maiden try. The sample is taken that day disappeared, and NASA determined that it could not be used for research.

NASA's Perseverance rover arrived on Mars last February as part of the Mars 2020 Exploration Program. During the landing, its partner, the Ingenuity helicopter, was nestled inside the rover. Both were launched into space in July 2020.

Unlike previous NASA rover missions, Perseverance had a traveling companion in the form of Ingenuity. This drone-like flying vehicle became the first aircraft to undertake powered, controlled flight on another planet in April.

Ingenuity was deployed as a test instrument to determine if it may assist future rovers in planning their itineraries more effectively and securely. However, Perseverance's multiple test flights have gone so successfully that Ingenuity has been able to assist Perseverance in navigating the Martian surface.

Check out more news and information on Space in Science Times.