NASA’s Perseverance rover dropped the first backup tube containing samples collected from the Martian surface during the first part of its mission. These boxes will be transported back to Earth by the Mars Sample Return mission in 2033. The samples will be analyzed in ways our excellent robot explorers cannot.
Perseverance will deliver some of the tubes directly to the lander, but as a backup plan, some spares are dropped off at certain points on Mars. These samples will be collected by two new Mars helicopters, similar in design and scope to the Ingenuity first tested during this mission. Ingenuity has exceeded expectations and has become a full-fledged flight companion for Perseverance.
Because flying vehicles can only take one sample at a time, the samples have to be placed on a fairly flat landing area with no stones. The rover will continue to drop a few more of the 17 samples collected so far over the next few weeks. The first sample was no larger than a piece of chalk and was taken from an igneous rock informally called “Malay” in the “South Séítah” area of Mars’ Jezero Crater on January 31, 2022.
Samples are dropped from the Perseverance’s hub, and a robotic arm is then used to keep the container flat on the ground and make sure the wheels don’t roll in its path. The initial sample release was completed perfectly without any additional intervention.
“Seeing the first sample on the ground was a fantastic milestone for our main mission, which ended Jan.
Perseverance’s primary mission ends on January 6, after a full Martian year (687 days) on the Red Planet.
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