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The Perseverance Rover Finally Got Its First Martian Rock Sample, For Real This Time

Second time's the charm. Sample tube 266 contains the rover's first rock, which NASA hopes to bring back to Earth on future missions for further study.

For the Perseverance Mars rover, second timeā€™s the charm.

After a disappointing first attempt in early August, which resulted in an empty test tube, NASA confirmed on Monday that Perseverance had successfully collected and stored its first sample of Martian rock while exploring Artuby. The half-mile (900 meters) ridgeline is near an area believed to hold Jezero Craterā€™s deepest and most ancient layers of exposed bedrock.

The process to obtain the rock sample, which is a bit thicker than a pencil, began last Wednesday. That day, Perseverance used the rotary-percussive drill at the end of its robotic arm to core into a flat Martian rock, which NASA nicknamed ā€œRochette,ā€ that was shaped like a briefcase.

This composite of two images shows the hole drilled by NASAā€™s Perseverance rover during its second sample-collection attempt.
This composite of two images shows the hole drilled by NASAā€™s Perseverance rover during its second sample-collection attempt. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech

After it finished coring, Perseverance snapped a photo of the contents of its unsealed sample tubeā€”number 266, in case you were wonderingā€”so that NASA could confirm it had collected the rock. Mission controllers confirmed that yes, that was indeed a Martian rock, and sent the rover instructions to finish processing the sample.

This included measuring and imaging the rock core, hermetically sealing the tube, taking another photo of the sealed tube, and finally, storing the tube.

Perseveranceā€™s first cored sample of Mars rock is sealed inside its titanium container tube in this image taken by roverā€™s Sampling and Caching System Camera. The image was taken on Sept. 6, 2021
Perseveranceā€™s first cored sample of Mars rock is sealed inside its titanium container tube in this image taken by roverā€™s Sampling and Caching System Camera. The image was taken on Sept. 6, 2021 Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Perseverance project scientist Ken Farley said in a news release that getting the first Martian rock sample was a huge milestone.

ā€œWhen we get these samples back on Earth, they are going to tell us a great deal about some of the earliest chapters in the evolution of Mars,ā€ Farley said. ā€œBut however geologically intriguing the contents of sample tube 266 will be, they wonā€™t tell the complete story of this place. There is a lot of Jezero Crater left to explore, and we will continue our journey in the months and years ahead.ā€

This is just the first of what NASA hopes are many Martian rock samples collected by Perseverance. The rover has taken more than 30 sample tubes to Mars and could fill as many as eight during this first part of its mission, which will last for hundreds of Martian days. NASA is working with the European Space Agency on future missions to bring Perseveranceā€™s samples back to Earth for further study.

If the two space agencies make this happen, the samples would be the first samples brought to our planet from another one.

Once Perseverance completes the first leg of its mission, it will make its way to Jezero Craterā€™s delta region, which encompasses the fan-shaped remains of the spot where an ancient river met a lake within the crater. NASA believes that itā€™s possible the region could be rich in clay minerals. Based on what we know from Earth, these minerals can preserve fossilized signs of microscopic life.

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