Perseverance succeeds in collecting a sample from Mars

Perseverance lives up to its name. NASA’s rover, which has been surveying the Martian terrain for nearly seven months, has managed to collect the number 1^{He is} september rock sample from the red planet, Report New York times. Thus, his second attempt was successful, while the first, last month, ended in failure.

This time, “The sample appeared exactly where it was needed – it was collected inside the drill”, writes in the American Daily. On August 6, engineers thought they had succeeded, until they discovered that the sample vessel was empty. The rocks, very fragile, shattered under the shock.

Disappointment at that time now faded with enthusiasm within the team of engineers and scientists. Perseverance chief engineer Adam Seltzner posted a sample photo on Twitter: “This is as great a sample as it is perfect! Be patient, little sample, your journey will start soon.”

But Martian soil appears to be playing again with Terrans: The following images taken by the rover indicate an empty tube. Has the sample disappeared? In a press releaseThe US agency asserts that it is confident that the sample is in the tube well, which future photos will have to confirm.

No return to Earth before 2030

In fact, to avoid further disappointment, “We chose the rock that looked the hardest”, said the chief engineer. Nicknamed “Rochette”, it looks like a piece of solidified lava, sets The New York Times. On the contrary, the hole dug on August 6 was full of cavities, due to which they remained in ancient lakes or groundwater.

althoug, The August 6 operation was not a complete fiasco. The newspaper gets angry. The tube contains pure Martian air, which scientists also planned to collect, but later. “

However, it will be necessary to be patient before discovering the secrets of the Martian air and soil: the samples, which will be returned by a rocket, should not reach Earth before 2030.

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