NASA's Perseverance rover fails in first attempt to collect rock samples on Mars

NASA's Perseverance rover has failed in its first attempt to collect rock samples on Mars and seal them in a sample tube and sent them to Earth for future analysis by scientists. As per NASA's data, the Perseverance rover carries 43 titanium sample tubes.

The rover is exploring Jezero Crater, the place where gathered samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and dust) will be gathered and kept for future analysis by scientists on Earth.

The US space agency published some images on Friday of a small pile of a rock-like substance with a hole in its centre next to the rover. This was the first time the robot had dug on the surface of the Red Planet. But when the data was sent to Earth by the rover then no rock was found in the sealed tube.

Nasa said that the Perseverance mission is assembling a response team to analyse the data. The team will ascertain when to schedule the next sample collection attempt.

What exactly happened

Perseverance's Sampling and Caching System used a hollow coring bit and a percussive drill at the end of its 2-meter-long robotic arm to extract samples.

A core bit is a drilling tool with a hole through the centre that removes sediment rock and allows the core pedestal to pass through the bit and into the core barrel.

Telemetry from the rover indicates that during its first coring attempt, the drill and bit were engaged as planned, and post-coring the sample tube was processed as intended.

Perseverance is currently exploring two geologic units containing Jezero Crater's deepest and most ancient layers of exposed bedrock and other intriguing geologic features.

The mission took off from Florida a little over a year ago and Perseverance, which is the size of a large family car, landed on February 18 in the Jezearo Crater.

Scientists believe the crater contained a deep lake 3.5 billion years ago, where the conditions may have been able to support extraterrestrial life.

Nasa plans a mission to bring around 30 samples back to Earth in the 2030s, to be analysed by instruments that will be more sophisticated than the present ones.

(With NASA Inputs)