Perseverance got to the Jezero Crater on the 18th of February. Phase one started on the 1st of June. The mission has one goal: for the rover to explore 4 square kilometer of the crater floor.
And now, the Perseverance rover is finally ready to collect the first-ever sample of rocks from Mars. Future missions will bring the samples to Earth. The rover is looking for interesting samples in the Jezero Crater. He will start the process in the following weeks.
Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA, stated: “When Neil Armstrong took the first sample from the Sea of Tranquility 52 years ago, he began a process that would rewrite what humanity knew about the Moon. I have every expectation that Perseverance’s first sample from Jezero Crater, and those that come after, will do the same for Mars. We are on the threshold of a new era of planetary science and discovery.”
It took the astronaut 3 minutes and 35 seconds to collect the moon sample. Perseverance will need 11 days, as it needs to follow instructions from the Earth. It will also rely on its good friend, the Sampling and Caching System.
The process of collecting rocks
The process will start with the rover getting and placing everything it needs within 2 meters. Then, it will do an imaginery survey, so the team at NASA could see clearly the exact location. They will also be looking for another target site for “proximity science.”
They want to get data about the rock by finding its geologic twin. For the twin, they will scrape off the top for a big, and dust in order to get to the surface, and then it will be cleaned before taking a closer look.
