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鈥業鈥檝e got it!鈥 NASA gets Mars rock
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NASA confirmed on Monday that its Perseverance Mars rover succeeded in collecting its first rock sample for scientists to pore over when a future mission eventually brings it back to Earth.
鈥淚鈥檝e got it!鈥 the space agency tweeted, alongside a photograph of a rock core slightly thicker than a pencil, inside a sample tube.
The sample was collected on September 1, but NASA was initially unsure whether the rover had successfully held onto its precious cargo, because initial images taken in poor light were unclear.
After taking a new photo so mission control could verify its contents, Perseverance transferred the tube to the rover鈥檚 interior for further measurements and imaging, then hermetically sealed the container.
鈥淭his is a momentous achievement and I can鈥檛 wait to see the incredible discoveries produced by Perseverance and our team,鈥 NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.
Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science, likened the achievement to the first samples of rock taken from the Moon, which are still invaluable to researchers today.
Perseverance鈥檚 sampling and caching system is the most complex mechanism ever sent to space, with over 3,000 parts.
Its first target was a briefcase-sized rock nicknamed 鈥淩ochette鈥 from a ridgeline that is particularly interesting from a geological perspective as it contains ancient layers of exposed bedrock.
Perseverance uses a drill and a hollow coring bit at the end of its 2-meter-long robotic arm to extract samples.
After coring the rock, the rover vibrated the drill bit and tube for one second, five separate times.
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