NASA’s Mars Rover Has Run Into Trouble

The Perseverance rover has run into some trouble after it successfully collected a bit of rock for the sixth time last month.

Nothing appears to be out of order.

Louise Jandura, chief engineer for sampling at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, wrote in a Friday update that the rover stopped the caching procedure and called home for further instructions.

Resistance that was unexpected.

Due to the additional debris, the sensors started recording resistance earlier than expected.

The ability to operate with debris was considered by the designers of the bit carousel. This is the first time we are doing a debris removal and we want to take whatever time is necessary to ensure these pebbles exit in a controlled and orderly fashion.

The Sample Caching System helps store the various samples taken by Perseverance.

The Curve Ball is a ball.

Engineers have a difficult task of clearing Perseverance's collection system. It is even more difficult because of the longer than usual latency caused by the days when Mars and Earth fall out of sync.

The team at JPL is confident that Perseverance will survive the indigestion.

The latest curve Mars has thrown at us is not the first, wrote Jandura in the update. When the engineering challenge is hundreds of millions of miles away, it pays to take your time and be thorough.

Perseverance's Seventh Sample Collection is being assessed.

NASA Mars Rover samples Mars with green mineral.

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