NASA's Perseverance Rover's first sample collection failed due to problems with a "unique" Mars rock.
Perseverance sent a team to Mars on February 18 to look for signs of ancient Mars life, and to collect samples to be used for further research back home. The rover's first attempt at collecting Martian dirt samples on Aug. 6 didn't go as planned. This was due to a series events that Louise Jandura (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's chief engineer in sampling and caching), described as a "rollercoaster ride of emotions" in a NASA statement.
Initial signs indicated that the rover had successfully captured and stored a large amount of Martian material within one of its 43 samples tubes. The volume measurement and post-measurement photos were received the next morning. Mission team members on Earth discovered that the sample tube had been empty. After two days of investigation, the team concluded that the Martian rock could not be collected.
Jandura stated that the science and engineering teams involved in the mission discovered that the rock's "uniqueness" at the sampling site was the main contributor to difficulties in extracting cores from it. The hardware worked as expected, but the rock was not cooperative."
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Perseverance captured this image. It shows the first borehole that was taken by the navigation camera of the rover. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
It took a while for the reality to sink in, but the team quickly switched to investigation mode. It's what we do. It is the foundation of science and engineering," Jandura stated about moments when team members realized that Perseverance's first Mars sample capture was not as successful.
The team reached three different conclusions following an investigation of the sampling event.
The "Corer," a drill that collects Martian rocks samples, did not respond to their requests. They also found no intact cores or pieces of Martian rock at the site. But, most importantly, the statement stated that they discovered that the "unusual" rock they attempted to sample was just "powder/small bits which were not retained due in part to their size and lack of any substantial chunk of core."
Jandura stated that "it appears that the rock wasn't strong enough to produce core." "Some material can be seen in the bottom hole. It is possible that the material from the core you desire is either in the bottom or in the cuttings pile. Given the measurement uncertainties, we are unable to make a distinction.
Jandura stated that despite the difficulties encountered in the first attempt, the team remains optimistic.
Jandura stated, "It reminds us yet again of our nature of exploration." No matter how well you plan, a specific result can never be guaranteed. Science and engineering have made great strides despite this. The first autonomous sequence of our Mars sampling system was completed within a time limit of one Sol. This is about 40 minutes more than an Earth day. This bodes well to the pace of our science campaign.
Perseverance will be traveling to another location to try to find more Martian rock, due to the difficulties encountered during the sampling effort. Percy will be sent by mission teams to the next sampling site. It is in South Seitah. This is the region where Percy landed, and the closest point to which the team had planned to take samples.
According to the statement, the current goal is to collect this sample in September.
Chelsea Gohd can be reached at cgohd@space.com. Follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @Spacedotcom
