The drill hole from Perseverance’s second sample-collection attempt can be seen, in this composite of two images taken on Sept. 1, by one of the rover’s navigation cameras. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Perseverance will obtain additional imagery of the sample tube before
potentially completing the process of collecting its first
scientifically-selected Mars sample
Data received late Sept. 1 from NASA’s Perseverance rover indicate the team
has achieved its goal of successfully coring a Mars rock. The initial images
downlinked after the historic event show an intact sample present in the tube
after coring. However, additional images taken after the arm completed sample
acquisition were inconclusive due to poor sunlight conditions. Another round of
images with better lighting will be taken before the sample processing
continues.
Obtaining additional imagery prior to proceeding with the sealing and
storing of Mars rock sample is an extra step the team opted to include based on
its experience with the rover’s sampling attempt on Aug. 5.
Although the Perseverance mission team is confident that the sample is in the
tube, images in optimal lighting conditions will confirm its presence.
Perseverance’s Sampling and Caching
System uses a rotary-percussive drill and a hollow
coring bit at the end of its 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm to extract samples
slightly thicker than a pencil. Within the bit during coring is a sample tube.
After completing yesterday’s coring, Perseverance maneuvered the corer, bit,
and open end of the sample tube in order to be imaged by the rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument. The
target for the sample collection attempt was a briefcase-size rock belonging to
a ridgeline that is more than half-a-mile (900 meters) long and contains rock
outcrops and boulders.
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. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
The initial set of images from Mastcam-Z showed the end of a cored rock
within the sample tube. After taking these images, the rover began a procedure
called “percuss to ingest,” which vibrates the drill bit and tube for one
second, five separate times. The movement is designed to clear the lip of the
sample tube of any residual material. The action can also cause a sample to
slide down farther into the tube. After the rover finished the
percuss-to-ingest procedure, it took a second set of Mastcam-Z images. In these
images, the lighting is poor, and internal portions of the sample tube are not
visible.
“The project got its first cored rock under its belt, and that’s a
phenomenal accomplishment,” said Jennifer Trosper, project manager at NASA’s
Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “The team determined a
location, and selected and cored a viable and scientifically valuable rock. We
did what we came to do. We will work through this small hiccup with the
lighting conditions in the images and remain encouraged that there is sample in
this tube.”
Commands uplinked to the rover earlier today will result in images of the
corer and tube to be acquired tomorrow, Sept. 3, at times of day on Mars when
the Sun is angled in a more favorable position. Photos will also be taken after
sunset to diminish point-sources of light that can saturate an image. The
photos will be returned to Earth early in the morning of Sept. 4.
If the results of this additional imaging remain inconclusive, the
Perseverance team still has several options to choose from going forward,
including using the Sampling and Caching System’s volume probe (located inside
the rover’s chassis) as a final confirmation of the sample being in the tube.
Taken Sept. 1 by Mastcam-Z after Perseverance’s sample-coring activities, this image shows the rover’s drill with no cored rock sample evident in the sample tube. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
The Sept. 1 coring is the second time that Perseverance has employed its
Sampling and Caching System since landing in Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021.
More About Perseverance
A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search
for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s
geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet,
and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.
Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA, would send spacecraft to
Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth
for in-depth analysis.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars
exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the
Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.
JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built
and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.
For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ and nasa.gov/perseverance
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-s-perseverance-rover-successfully-cores-its-first-rock
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