Mars Rover Perseverance has successfully collected its first rock sample from the red planet, NASA confirmed on Monday. The US space agency said the rover had drilled into a think slab called ‘Rochette’ after which there were a few anxious days when many thought the core might have been dropped.
But now the new images have confirmed the sample safely inside the drill mechanism, according to a BBC report. But the job of the rover is not done yet. It has to collect more than two dozen similar rock samples over the next year. The core is essentially the first-ever rock sample collected from another planet with the intention of bringing it to Earth.
After the rover blasted off from Earth in July 2020, it touched down in Mars’ Jezero Crater the following February. Later, the rover travelled more than 2 kms to a raised ridge that was named ‘the Citadelle’. The Citadelle was the place that the scientists had in mind to select a thick slab from. They decided to call it Rochette. The Rochette slab was the target for the drilling attempt that took place on September 1.
News Source : NASA
