NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover obtain two new samples from the Martian surface on Dec 2 and 6. Unlike the 15 rock cores collected to date, these two samples came from a pile of wind-blown sand and dust similar to but smaller than a dune.
Doubling up! I’ve taken a second sample of loose material from this sandy ripple. #SamplingMars this way adds a new dimension to my other rock cores. See why both engineers and scientists could learn a lot from this material: https://t.co/rEAPXwoejj pic.twitter.com/QrsGUZiaar
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) December 8, 2022
NASA’S Preservence Mars Rover has tweeted this information on their tweeter handle. These two samples are now contained in special metal collection tubes, one of these two samples will be considered for the deposit on the Martian surface sometime this month as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign.
Scientists want to study Martian samples with powerful lab equipment on Earth. They want to search for signs of ancient microbial life. And to better understand the processes that have shaped the surface of Mars.
Scientists also want to work with regolith in order to obtain information about the challenges that the astronauts might face on Mars. So that arrangements can be made accordingly for the astronauts.
