NASA Mars rover may have snagged 1st rock sample for return

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA’s newest Mars rover whitethorn person successfully collected its archetypal stone illustration for instrumentality to Earth, aft past month’s effort came up empty.

The Perseverance rover's main engineer, Adam Steltzner, called it a cleanable halfway sample.

"I’ve ne'er been much blessed to spot a spread successful a rock," helium tweeted Thursday.

But NASA aboriginal said it was awaiting much photos earlier declaring occurrence though the “team is assured that the illustration is successful the tube.”

A period ago, Perseverance drilled into overmuch softer rock, and the illustration crumbled and didn't get successful the titanium tube. The rover drove a half-mile to a amended spot to effort again.

Initial photos taken Wednesday amusement a illustration successful the conduit but aboriginal images were inconclusive due to the fact that of mediocre lighting, NASA said successful a quality release. The stone illustration — astir the thickness of a pencil — could person slipped down deeper into the conduit during a bid of planned vibrations, it said. More photos are planned.

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Perseverance arrived successful February astatine Mars' Jezero Crater — believed to beryllium the location of a lush lakebed and stream delta billions of years agone — successful hunt of rocks that mightiness clasp grounds of past life. NASA plans to motorboat much spacecraft to retrieve the samples collected by Perseverance; engineers are hoping to instrumentality arsenic galore arsenic 3 twelve samples successful astir a decade.

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