Engineers at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the mission, want to understand why that very first sample, nicknamed “Roubion,” turned to dust. The missions engineers and researchers had run substantial test campaigns on dozens of rock types prior to launch, but they hadnt seen any react exactly like Roubion.
So a brand-new test project was begun– one that would consist of a sightseeing tour, a duplicate of Perseverances drill, and JPLs distinct Extraterrestrial Materials Simulation Lab. Responses remain evasive, but heres a closer look at the process.
How Do Spacecraft Deal with Dust Storms on Mars? Get the newest on the rest of NASAs Mars fleet with the Mars Report.
Keeping in mind Roubion.
Re-creating the distinct physical homes of Roubion would be crucial to the test project.
” Of the rocks weve seen, Roubion had the most evidence of interaction with water,” said Ken Farley of Caltech, Perseverances job researcher. “Thats why it broke down.”.
Rocks changed by water can be more prone to falling apart; theyre likewise highly valuable to Perseverances scientists. Determination is collecting samples that future objectives might bring back to Earth to be studied in labs with powerful devices too big to be sent to Mars.
Aerial Shot of Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve: An aerial drone caught this view of members of NASAs Perseverance Mars rover group in the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve in Southern California as they looked for crumbly rocks for a test campaign. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
School trip.
To find Roubion stand-ins, a handful of rover employee were granted permission to hunt rocks in the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve, a two-hour drive from JPL. The team was browsing for rocks that filled a geological sweet area: weathered enough to be Roubion-like, but not so fragile that they would fall apart at the smallest touch. They ultimately picked a half-dozen rocks.
” It was very physical work,” said JPLs Louise Jandura, chief engineer for tasting and caching, who has been leading the test project. “We were cracking away with rock hammers and crowbars. A couple rocks were big enough that it took all five of us holding on to a stretched-out canvas to get it into the bed of our truck.”.
Next step: screening at JPL. Among the locations where that takes place is the Extraterrestrial Materials Simulation Lab, a type of service center that prepares materials for screening in other places at JPL.
JPL Rock Hunters: Members of the JPL team that went browsing for Mars-like rocks in the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve pose for a selfie. From left: Errin Dalshaug, Iona Brockie, Louise Jandura, Ken Farley, and Sarah Yearicks. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
A Rock Superstore.
Piles of rocks– some peppered with drill holes– are strewn about a prohibiting commercial saw near the entrance. In back stands a concrete bunker with rock bins labeled with names that sound like Mad Libs for geologists: Old Dutch Pumice, China Ranch Gypsum, Bishop Tuff.
” I like to state we do artisanal selection and preparation of products,” said Sarah Yearicks, a mechanical engineer who leads the laboratory. “Testing them is part manufacturing and part mad science.”.
Yearicks is among the individuals who chose the rocks at the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve excursion. For the testing on Roubion-like rocks, Yearicks team dealt with a construction-grade drill– not a coring drill– in addition to other tools, while Janduras group utilized a “flight-like” replicate of Perseverances drill.The teams passed the rock samples back and forth, checking them in different methods.
Close-Up of a Perseverance-Like Drill: This drill is a duplicate of the one aboard NASAs Perseverance Mars rover. It was utilized in a test project to learn how crumbly rocks react to the drill. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Put to the Test.
Janduras group ran their flight-like drill a few millimeters at a time, stopping to examine that a core was still forming; if it had actually crumbled, they d take a look at variables that might be the cause. The engineers fine-tuned the drills rate of percussion and the weight placed on its bit. They likewise attempted drilling into the rock horizontally rather of vertically, in case the accumulation of particles was an element.
One was that fragile samples can still resist the percussive drill. When Janduras team reduced the force of percussion to prevent powderizing the sample, the drill bit could not penetrate the surface.
Perseverance has actually so far captured 6 samples from extremely weathered, water-altered rocks, and the team knows its capable of much more. Their experience with Roubion has prepared them for some of the extremes Mars will toss at Perseverance in the future. If they find more rocks like Roubion, the Extraterrestrial Materials Simulation Lab will be ready with its menagerie of Mars-worthy materials.
More About the Mission.
A key objective for Perseverances objective on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for indications of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planets geology and previous climate, lead the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first objective to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).
Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send out spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for thorough analysis.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance objective becomes part of NASAs Moon to Mars expedition approach, which consists of Artemis missions to the Moon that will assist get ready for human exploration of the Red Planet.
JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and handles operations of the Perseverance rover.
Checking a Roubion- Like Rock: Engineers dealing with NASAs Perseverance Mars rover established this test location at JPL to practice drilling into crumbly rocks utilizing a replicate of the rovers rock-coring drill. Determinations very first sample collapsed into powder rather than staying intact, prompting a test campaign. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Utilizing thoroughly chosen terrestrial rocks, engineers attempt to find out how to work with crumbly rocks like the one the rover come across on its very first sampling effort.
Producing a Drill Hole in a Test Rock: Engineers at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory performed tests on rocks such as this one to understand why the first effort by the companys Perseverance rover resulted in a powderized sample. A duplicate of the rovers drill tried to create cores from crumbly rocks. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
When NASAs Perseverance Mars rover attempted to gather its first rock core sample last August, the result presented a puzzle for the objective group: The rovers sample tube came up empty. However why?
Not long after, Perseverance successfully collected a sample the size of a piece of chalk from a various rock. The team concluded that the first rock they had chosen was so crumbly that the rovers percussive drill likely pulverized it.
Testing a Roubion- Like Rock: Engineers working with NASAs Perseverance Mars rover set up this test area at JPL to practice drilling into crumbly rocks utilizing a duplicate of the rovers rock-coring drill. Developing a Drill Hole in a Test Rock: Engineers at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory carried out tests on rocks such as this one to comprehend why the first effort by the firms Perseverance rover resulted in a powderized sample. Rocks changed by water can be more prone to falling apart; theyre likewise extremely valuable to Perseverances researchers. JPL Rock Hunters: Members of the JPL group that went searching for Mars-like rocks in the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve posture for a selfie. Determination has so far recorded six samples from extremely weathered, water-altered rocks, and the team understands its capable of numerous more.