Perseverance took its first sample of Martian soil
(NASA)
The Perseverance rover finally obtained a sample of Martian soil, as indicated by images taken by the rover, which show that the inside of the tube is filled with core.
It is expected that new data sent by the rover in the near future will provide the final confirmation of the success of the operation.
One of the scientific tasks of the new Mars rover Perseverance is to collect at least 20 different soil samples from the Jezero crater into sealed test tubes (there are 43 of them on board the rover).
One end of the tube is initially open and is filled with core during operation of the drilling mechanism, which is installed on the end of the rover's two-meter robotic arm.
In the future, they will be sealed and stored in several places on Mars until the arrival of the MSR (Mars Sample Return Mission) mission, which will return them to Earth.
The first attempt to obtain samples took place on August 6, 2021, but then it turned out that the test tube was empty, this was associated with an overly fragile rock that turned into powder.
Researchers looked for harder rocks and soon found possible sedimentary outcrops and boulders belonging to a ridge over 900 meters long.
On September 1, the rover conducted a second soil sampling attempt, and then photographed the well in the boulder and the interior of the test tube.
After examining the images, the scientists came to the conclusion that the core formed and filled the tube without spilling out of it.
The new imagery and data from the analysis of the sampling and caching system located inside the rover, are expected to provide definitive confirmation of the success of the operation.
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