The Perseverance Mars rover has been collecting samples of rock and soil since it landed on the Jezero Crater on Mars back in 2021. Just recently, it has dropped off its fourth sample out of ten, making its backup sample cache now 40% complete.
The Perseverance's Rock Stash
The Mars rover is dropping off backup samples as insurance should complications with the canisters delivered to the lander arise. One of the drop-off locations is in Jezero Crater at Three Forks, which now has four samples out of ten.
The rover collects two samples from each target rock, one of which is the backup and the other is kept by the rover. Perseverance will then deliver the samples to a NASA lander that is yet to arrive on Mars, which features a rocket for samples to take off of the Red Planet's surface.
Should the Perseverance rover break down before the lander arrives since the lander mission is still years away, two helicopters from the incoming spacecraft will retrieve the backup sample and deliver them to the lander.
The first sample was dropped off in late December of 2023. The ground team in control of the rover had to be meticulous in positioning the sample tubes. For instance, incorrectly positioning them could lead to the rover running over them.
According to Space, it was difficult to maneuver the rover's actions. So much so that the rover took about an hour to retrieve a sample tube within itself. It also records the precise location of the dropoffs so it would be easy to locate even if it was covered with Martian dust.
More About the Perseverance
Four out of ten samples may not sound much, but the overall collection of the rover is an impressive record. The Perseverance arrived on Mars with 43 titanium sample tubes which are six inches long each, as mentioned by NASA.
38 of those are intended for storing samples of Martian dust, rock, and dirt. The five tubes will be used to measure the cleanliness of the rover's sampling system. 19 out of the 38 tubes have already been filled, which accounts for 47.37% completion.
Six percent of the samples are atmospheric, and 11% are regolith or broken-up rock and soil. The vast 83% of the samples are rock cores. The first sample was taken on August 6th of 2021, which was an atmospheric sample stored in a sample cache site.
Three out of five Witness Tubes or the tubes that make sure of the cleanliness of the rover's sample system have already been used. Four out of the 19 collected samples have been deposited in a sample cache site while the 15 are held by the Mars rover.
Once the sample tubes are all filled, they will be collected and set back to Earth. Scientists will analyze the samples to determine whether there is or was water on Mars, which could help with the question of whether life existed on the Red Planet.
