The depot will act as a backup if Perseverance cant deliver its samples. In that case, a set of Sample Recovery Helicopters would be hired to end up the task.
Testing a Sample Drop in the Mars Yard: Engineers use OPTIMISM, a full-size reproduction of NASAs Perseverance rover, to test how it will transfer its very first sample tube on the Martian surface area. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The very first sample to drop was a chalk-size core of igneous rock informally named “Malay,” which was collected on January 31, 2022, in an area of Mars Jezero Crater called “South Séítah.” Perseverances complex Sampling and Caching System took almost an hour to obtain the metal tube from inside the rovers belly, see it one last time with its internal CacheCam, and drop the sample approximately 3 feet (89 centimeters) onto a carefully chosen spot of Martian surface area.
But the task wasnt done for engineers at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which constructed Perseverance and leads the mission. Once they confirmed the tube had dropped, the team positioned the WATSON video camera situated at the end of Perseverances 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm to peer below the rover, examining to be sure that the tube hadnt rolled into the path of the rovers wheels.
OPTIMISM Sticks the Landing: Engineers react with surprise while checking how NASAs Perseverance rover will deposit its sample tubes on the Martian surface. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
They likewise wished to ensure television hadnt landed in such a way that it was standing on its end (each tube has a flat end piece called a “glove” to make it easier to be selected up by future missions). That occurred less than 5% of the time throughout testing with Perseverances Earthly twin in JPLs Mars Yard. In case it does happen on Mars, the mission has written a series of commands for Perseverance to carefully knock television over with part of the turret at the end of its robotic arm.
In the coming weeks, theyll have other opportunities to see whether Perseverance requires to utilize the strategy as the rover deposits more samples at the Three Forks cache.
” Seeing our first sample on the ground is an excellent capstone to our prime objective duration, which ends on Jan. 6,” said Rick Welch, Perseverances deputy project supervisor at JPL. “Its a great positioning that, just as were beginning our cache, were also closing this first chapter of the objective.”
Bringing Mars Rock Samples Back to Earth: This short animation features crucial minutes of NASA and ESAs Mars Sample Return project, from landing on Mars and securing the sample tubes to launching them off the surface and transporting them back to Earth. Credit: NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech/ GSFC/MSFC.
More About the Mission.
An essential objective for Perseverances objective on Mars is astrobiology, including the look for indications of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planets geology and previous environment, pave 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 objectives, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface area and return them to Earth for extensive analysis.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance objective is part of NASAs Moon to Mars exploration method, which includes Artemis objectives to the Moon that will assist prepare for human expedition of the Red Planet.
JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, developed and handles operations of the Perseverance rover.
The facility of the depot marks a historical early step in the Mars Sample Return project.
Perseverance has been taking duplicate samples from rock targets the objective selects. The rover presently has the other 17 samples (consisting of one atmospheric sample) taken so far in its belly. Based on the architecture of the Mars Sample Return project, the rover would deliver samples to a future robotic lander. The lander would, in turn, use a robotic arm to put the samples in a containment capsule aboard a small rocket that would blast off to Mars orbit, where another spacecraft would record the sample container and return it securely to Earth.
NASAs Perseverance rover deposited the first of numerous samples onto the Martian surface on December 21, 2022, the 653rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The sample tube, which is filled with rock, will be among 10 forming a depot of tubes that the Mars Sample Return campaign could consider for a trip to Earth for in-depth analysis.
On December 22, NASAs Perseverance Mars rover positioned a titanium tube consisting of a rock sample on the Red Planets surface. Over the next 2 months, the rover will develop humanitys first sample depot on another world by transferring a total of 10 tubes at the place, called “Three Forks.” The establishment of the depot marks a historic early action in the Mars Sample Return campaign.
Perseverance Deposits Its First Sample on the Martian Surface: Once the Perseverance team verified the very first sample tube was on the surface, they placed the WATSON electronic camera situated at the end of the rovers robotic arm to peer beneath the rover, checking to be sure that television had not rolled into the course of the wheels. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The rover presently has the other 17 samples (consisting of one atmospheric sample) taken so far in its tummy. Based on the architecture of the Mars Sample Return project, the rover would provide samples to a future robotic lander.