Several pebbles that were obstructing the sample collection system have been ejected by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover.
Images taken by the rover's Watson camera earlier this month show Martian debris accumulating on the rover's "bit carousel," a crucial apparatus that transfers samples from the rover's drill arm to storage inside the rover.
Engineers at NASA decided to spin the carousel 75 degrees this week to remove the pebbles. According to a recent update by the JPL deputy project manager, it seems like their attempt has paid off.
The perseverance of the team at NASA's JPL was demonstrated by the maneuver that removed two pebbles above the bit carousel.
It's time to shake it off.
There are two more pebbles below the carousel. They may not pose a significant problem with bit carousel operation, but we are continuing analysis and testing to confirm this.
On Monday, the team decided to play it safe and completely empty the sample tube so that they could try again. They said that some of the sample had been lost.
To pull that off, the team commanded the rover to use the drill to shake the collection tube while pointing down at the soil below.
A bunch of smaller pieces falling out of the collection area was recorded by Perseverance's Mastcam-Z camera.
Like all Mars missions, we have had some unexpected challenges. Perseverance will get back to exploration and sampling at Jezero Crater only after the team and rover have risen to the occasion.
Ejecting Mars' pebbles is a NASA project.
NASA's Mars Rover has run into trouble.
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