NASA’s Perseverance rover succeeded in its second attempt to scoop up a piece of Martian rock for future analysis by scientists on Earth — probably.
NASA plans to invest roughly US$2.75 billion in the project over 11 years, including US$2.2 billion for the development and building of the hardware, US$243 million for launch services, and US$291 million for 2.5 years of mission operations.
Adjusted for inflation, Perseverance is NASA’s sixth-most expensive robotic planetary mission, though it is cheaper than its predecessor, Curiosity.
Perseverance benefited from spare hardware and “build-to print” designs from the Curiosity mission, which helped reduce development costs and saved “probably tens of millions, if not US$100 million” according to Mars 2020 Deputy Chief Engineer Keith Comeaux.
Its first effort earlier this month failed after the rock was too crumbly to withstand the robot’s drill, but data received late on September 1 indicates the process worked this time around.
The US space agency said Thursday it remains a little uncertain, because images taken after the rover’s arm completed sample acquisition were inconclusive due to poor sunlight conditions.
More images taken under better lighting are expected back by Saturday.
“The team determined a location, and selected and cored a viable and scientifically valuable rock,” Jennifer Trosper, project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said in a statement.
“We will work through this small hiccup with the lighting conditions in the images and remain encouraged that there is sample in this tube.”
The target was a briefcase-sized rock nicknamed “Rochette” from a ridgeline that is half a mile (900 meters) long.
Perseverance, NASA’s latest Mars rover, landed on the planet’s Jezero crater — the site on an ancient lake — in February on a mission to search for signs of ancient microbial life.
Its turret-mounted scientific instruments are able to determine chemical and mineral composition and look for organic matter, as well as better characterize the planet’s geological processes.
In this image released by NASA, Perseverance rover shows a sample tube with its cored-rock contents inside; the bronze-colored outer-ring is the coring bit, the lighter-colored inner-ring is the open end of the tube, and inside is a rock core sample
In this image released by NASA, Perseverance rover shows a sample tube with its cored-rock contents inside; the bronze-colored outer-ring is the coring bit, the lighter-colored inner-ring is the open end of the tube, and inside is a rock core sample Handout NASA/AFP
It uses a drill and a hollow coring bit at the end of its 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm to extract samples slightly thicker than a pencil, which it stores under its belly.
NASA plans a mission to bring around 30 samples back to Earth in the 2030s, where scientists will be able to conduct more detailed analysis that might confirm there was microbial life.