NASA’s Perseverance rover is on a mission to Mars to collect a sample of rocks and soil. It is its new science campaign to identify life on Mars and know the past of that red planet.
Perseverance rover exploring and collecting the samples from Mars Jezero Crater’s delta.
Perseverance Rover Collect Samples from Mars
NASA’s Perseverance rover collected 19 samples and three witness tubes. Recently deposited the 10 tubes as a backup cache on the Martian surface as part of the NASA-ESA (European Space Agency) MARS Sample return campaign.
Back to the grind! I’m #SamplingMars yet again, with the first rock core of my new science campaign exploring the top of Jezero Crater’s delta.
My coring drill is working well, and my team’s excited about what this rock may hold. Here’s why: https://t.co/Tfx3vGiRUR pic.twitter.com/DVlduom2Jf
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) March 31, 2023
Scientists wanted to study these samples collected from Mars with advanced equipment labs on earth.
Through these studies, they’ll search for signs of ancient microbial life and better understand the water cycle that has shaped the surface and interior of Mars.
Which Area Are Explored By NASA’s Perseverance Rover
NASA’s Perseverance rover collected samples from the “Berea” rock.
The Berea rock formed from the deposits that were carried from the ancient river to the Jezero crater area.
The material of the rock came from the location outside the Jezero crater.
Katie Stack Morgan deputy project scientist for Perseverance at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California said “The second reason is that the rock is rich in carbonate, “Carbonate rocks on Earth can be good at preserving fossilized lifeforms. If biosignatures were present in this part of Jezero Crater, it could be a rock like this one that could very well hold their secrets.”
Ancient Atmosphere of Mars
Scientists always wanted to know the ancient atmosphere of Mars, when there was a river.
The sample from the ‘Berea’ rock is actually a ‘carbonate’ which forms due to chemical interaction between river sediments and water.
This rock allows scientists to study the long-term changes on Mars planet.
NASA Perseverance project scientist Ken Farley said “
“The Berea core highlights the beauty of rover missions, Perseverance’s mobility has allowed us to collect igneous samples from the relatively flat crater floor during the first campaign, and then travel to the base of the crater’s delta, where we found fine-grained sedimentary rocks deposited in a dried lakebed.”
Now we are sampling from a geologic location where we find coarse-grained sedimentary rocks deposited in a river. With this diversity of environments to observe and collect from, we are confident that these samples will allow us to better understand what occurred here at Jezero Crater billions of years ago.”
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