On March 30, the newest science campaign for the Perseverance mission’s rover cored and stored the first sample. The team investigates and researches a new topic with each campaign. On this one, the rover is investigating the top of Jezero Crater’s delta. As part of the NASA-ESA (European Space Agency) Mars Sample Return campaign, Perseverance has returned a total of 19 samples, three witness tubes, and ten backup tubes to the Martian surface.
In order to find evidence of prehistoric microbial life and to better understand how the water cycle shaped Mars’ surface and interior, researchers want to analyze Martian samples with high-tech lab equipment on Earth.
This most recent sample, which was taken from a rock called “Berea” by the science team, is the sixteenth cored rock sample taken during the mission (there are also samples of regolith, or broken rock, and dust, as well as the Mars atmosphere; read more about the samples). Berea is thought to have formed from rock deposits that an ancient river carried here. That is one reason the team finds the rock so promising because it suggests the material may have originated from a location that is far outside of Jezero Crater.
“Carbonate rocks on Earth have the ability to preserve fossilized lifeforms. If biosignatures were found in this area of Jezero Crater, a rock like this one could be the key to unlocking their secrets.”
Katie Stack Morgan, deputy project scientist for Perseverance at NASA’s
According to Katie Stack Morgan, deputy project scientist for Perseverance at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, “the second reason is that the rock is rich in carbonate.”. “Fossilized lifeforms can be well preserved in carbonate rocks found on Earth. A rock like this one might very well contain the secrets of any biosignatures that may have existed in this region of Jezero Crater.”.
In this animation, NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is seen using a coring bit on the end of its robotic arm to collect a rock sample from an outcrop the science team has named “Berea.”. The pictures were captured by the rover’s front hazards camera. Authorized by NASA/JPL-Caltech.
The climate puzzle
How Mars’ climate operated when this region was submerged in liquid water has long been a mystery. Due to the chemical reactions that take place when carbonates form in liquid water, they can give scientists a long-term record of alterations in the planet’s climate. The science team could help close any gaps by analyzing the carbonate in the Berea sample.
According to Ken Farley, the project scientist for Perseverance at Caltech in Pasadena, “The Berea core highlights the beauty of rover missions.”. We were able to gather igneous samples from the comparatively flat crater floor during the first campaign thanks to Perseverance’s mobility, and we later traveled to the base of the crater’s delta, where we discovered fine-grained sedimentary rocks deposited in a dried lakebed. Right now, we are taking a sample from a geological location where we can see rocks with a coarse grain that were deposited in a river. We are confident that these samples will help us understand what happened at Jezero Crater billions of years ago because we have such a variety of environments to observe and collect from.”.
The rock core from Berea is visible in this image taken inside the drill of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. Each core the rover collects measures 2 points on the inch (60 millimeters) in length and 0 points on the inch (13 millimeters) in diameter, or about the size of a piece of classroom chalk. Credit: MSSS, NASA, JPL-Caltech, ASU
The six-wheeler will continue to climb Jezero’s sedimentary fan toward the following bend in the dry riverbed, which the science team is referring to as “Castell Henllys,” with this most recent sample safely stored in a sample tube inside the rover’s belly.
Provided by NASA
