Perseverance rover has been collecting rock samples of Mars in the past months. During the collection of its sixth rock, the rover unexpectedly faced a problem when its tube could not properly close. Due to this, NASA engineers had to execute a plan to clear some debris on the rover that prevented it from adequately catching rock samples.
NASA wants to treat the Perseverance rover as nicely as they can, so a plan to get rid of Martian pebbles was immediately drafted. They are waiting to find out whether their plan was successful in cleaning the debris.
Martian Pebbles Got Stuck in Perseverance Rover
Perseverance rover has already collected five rock samples from Mars. According to Space.com, rock samples were extracted using a percussive drill at the end of the rover's 7-foot-long robotic arms and then stored the samples in a titanium tube that passes through a rotating, wheel-like structure on the rover's chassis.
But on December 29, during its attempt to collect the sixth rock sample, it sent a message to Earth that its sensors recorded resistance on the lid of the titanium tube. Due to this, the car-sized rover has not been able to seal up the tube that contains the rock sample.
"I recently captured my sixth rock core and have encountered a new challenge. Seems some pebble-sized debris is obstructing my robotic arm from handing off the tube for sealing/storage. More images and data to come. #SamplingMars takes perseverance," mission team members wrote via the official Twitter account of Perseverance rover.
The team has immediately set out a plan to solve the issue. Sampling and caching chief engineer Louise Jandura from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the Perseverance rover, wrote in a blog post on Friday that the designers of the carousel in the titanium tube did take into account the rover's ability to operate despite the debris.
What Method Did NASA Use to Eliminate the Debris?
When the NASA team operating the Perseverance received the images of the pebbles being tucked on the titanium tube, they realized that the pebbles had fallen out of the tube and into the bit carousel Gizmodo reported.
In order to eliminate the pebbles from being stuck, the team rotated the bit carousel to shake them loose. They are using the data gathered from the imagery sent by the Perseverance rover as they happen to monitor their progress and see whether the debris was eliminated.
They analyzed the images and captured photos of the rocky ground beneath the rover. They said they would know that their method of carousel rotation is a success if the subsequent images the rover will send would show additional material on the ground. NASA is expecting to receive the new images soon.
Jennifer Trosper, a project manager at NASA's JPL, wrote in a blog post that they estimate the rover will be at the current location another week or so if they decide to sample again the ground, which they call Isole. She noted that the rock holds a scientific interest, so it is likely that they will give it another go.
This incident was not the first challenge while Perseverance was roving the Red Planet and collecting samples. During its first sampling attempt, the rover came up empty, so they had to try alternative methods. The rover has to fill the 43 sample tubes sent to Earth at the end of the decade in the Mars Sample Return mission.
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