NASA's Mars Rover Perseverance continues its sample collection mission on Mars, otherwise known as the Red Planet.
But its sixth attempt kicked off with a rocky adventure as it choked on some pebbles.
Perseverance, the car-size rover that flew to Mars to collect samples to bring here on Earth for study, continued on its mission late last month.
The rover's goals for its mission are to look for indications of ancient life on the Red Planet and to collect more samples through a joint NASA-ESA (European Space Agency) expedition.
Hopefully, Perseverance would be able to return to Earth by 2031.
How Did The Rover Fix The Issue
The mission seemed to be running smoothly since the rover's first touched the 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero crater of the Red Planet.
Perseverance then drilled on a rock called Issole and was able to obtain the sample it needs.
However, there has been a snag as it was unable to close the titanium tube that contains the material as planned.
This issue was later on traced to some niggling stones blocking Perseverance's sample-handling system.
Fortunately, the rover was able to solve the issue by removing the tube filled with sample from the carousel.
Perseverance shook the stones off, which paved the way for its next round of sample collection.
The space agency's Mars rover has already socked away five Red Planet rock samples. But this is not the first time that the rover has had to confront such a challenge with its sample.
The rover, for example, failed to acquire any material during its sample collection attempt back in August because the target rock was likely too soft on that particular occasion, the reason why the sample crumbled into bits and did not make it inside the tube.
Landing in Jezero
According to Space.com, scientists and NASA officials consider Jezero as an ideal location for such research because the crater once housed a lake and a river delta billions of years ago.
Since the mission also aims to trace ancient life on Mars, the place offers potential discoveries because remnants of that delta still exist on Jezero's floor.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration mission, which includes Artemis missions to the moon to help prepare for human exploration of Mars.
The rover is known to have 43 sample tubes, the majority of which will be filled with regolith and martian rock. These samples will cover a wide range of Martian surface components, such as rock cores, regolith, and the atmosphere.
As of this writing, seven sample tubes have been filled already.
The first time it used its sampling equipment was to check for contamination, and the second was when the rock that the rover was supposed to collect collapsed.
After that, the next attempts were all successful.
Assuming the seven that have already been utilized, the Perseverance still has 36 more tubes waiting to be used.
So far, the rover's mission shows us that controlled flight is very possible on Mar's thin air, something that gives us hope for more discoveries.
