Gloria Holmes
The first rock sample on Mars was taken by the rover. The US space agency confirmed this on Twitter. NASA wrote on Twitter on Monday, September 6, explaining its words through a sample image. “With better illumination down the collecting tube, You can see that the rock sample you collected is still there‘, she added.
The space agency said last week that it believed it exceeded the sample, but uncertainty persists because images taken by the craft were inconclusive due to the lack of light. Now, in possession of the rock called “Rochet”, The next step will be to repack and store the airtight tube before being returned to Earth for analysis by scientists.
The first failure last month
In August, during its first attempt, Perseverance failed to remove a piece of rock from Mars. The stone was very worn out. The unit, which is about the size of a large SUV, aims to search for signs of ancient life, such as traces of microbial life fossilized in rocks, but also to better understand the geology of Mars. NASA should return about thirty samples to Earth.
