This GIF shows NASA’s Mars rover collecting two regolith samples — broken rock and dust — with the regolith sampler at the end of its robotic arm. Samples were collected on December 2 and 6, 2022 and on Mars days 634 and 639, or the mission’s suns. The footage was captured by one of the rover’s forward hazard cameras.
Depositing one of the two regolith samples on Mars will be considered in the coming weeks as part of the investigation. Mars sample return campaign🇧🇷 Studying the regolith using powerful laboratory equipment on Earth will allow scientists to better understand the processes that shaped the surface of Mars and help engineers design future missions as well as equipment for future Mars astronauts.
The main objective of the Mars Perseverance mission is Astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s past and climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and store Martian rocks and regolith (cracked rocks and dust).
Subsequent NASA missions, in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), will send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed surface samples and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s approach to lunar exploration, which includes Artemis Missions to the Moon will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, operated by NASA’s California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, built and managed the probe’s operations.
Learn more about persistence: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/
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