Nasa Mars rover to lay down rocks for Earth return

On Dec 20, 2022

The American space agency’s Mars rover Perseverance will this week begin dropping samples of rock onto the surface of the Red Planet.

The materials have been packaged in small titanium tubes with the expectation they can be picked up by a future mission and brought home.

It’s a major milestone in the quest to find out whether there is life on Mars.

It’s thought only by studying rock and soil samples in Earth laboratories can the matter be resolved.

Perseverance will place 10 cylinders on the ground at its exploration site in Jezero Crater.

They contain a mix of volcanic and sedimentary rocks that the robot has drilled over the past 15 months.

There’ll also be examples of Martian soil and air.

The first finger-sized tube should be in position on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The location for the drop is a flat piece of terrain that’s been nicknamed “Three Forks”.

“The surface is like a pool table – really boring,” observed Nasa’s chief Mars scientist, Mike Meyer.

This will make it easier for a future mission to land and recover the store.

To be clear, the collection being laid down over the next few weeks will not form the primary return cache; it’s more of a “Plan B”.

Perseverance will retain copies of the samples with the hope it can directly deliver them – and others yet to be drilled – to the mission that comes to take them home. But Nasa can’t risk the scenario where the rover breaks down with all the rocks stuck inside it.

Nasa Mars rover to lay down rocks for Earth return

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