The Perseverance Mars rover is preparing to collect its first rock sample from the site of an ancient lake bed, as its mission to search for signs of past life begins in earnest, NASA said Wednesday.

The milestone is expected to take place within two weeks in a scientifically interesting region of the Jezero Crater called the "Cratered Floor Fractured Rough."

"When Neil Armstrong took the first sample from the Sea of Tranquility 52 years ago, he began a process that would rewrite what humanity knew about the Moon," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters.

"I have every expectation that Perseverance's first sample from Jezero Crater, and those that come after, will do the same for Mars."

Perseverance landed on the Red Planet on February 18, and over the summer moved about a kilometer to the south of its landing site, project scientist Ken Farley told reporters.

"Now we're looking at environments that are much further in the past -- billions of years in the past," he said in a briefing.

The team believes the crater was once home to an ancient lake that filled and drew down multiple times, potentially creating the conditions necessary for life.

Analyzing samples will reveal clues about the rocks' chemical and mineral composition -- revealing things like whether they were formed by volcanoes or are sedimentary in origin.

In addition to filling gaps in scientists' geologic understanding of the region, the rover will also scour for possible signs of ancient microbes.

First, Perseverance will deploy its 7-foot (two-meter) long robotic arm to determine precisely where to take its sample.

The rover will then use an abrasion tool to scrape off the rock's top layer, exposing unweathered surfaces.

These will be analyzed by Perseverance's turret-mounted scientific instruments to determine chemical and mineral composition, and look for organic matter.

One of the instruments, called SuperCam, will fire a laser at the rock and then take readings of the resulting plume.

Farley said that a small cliff that harbored fine-layered rocks might have been formed from lake muds, and "those are very good places to look for biosignatures," though it will be a few more months before Perseverance reaches that outcrop.

Each rock Perseverance analyzes will have an untouched geologic "twin" which the rover will scoop up, seal and store under its belly.

Eventually, NASA is planning a return mission with the European Space Agency to collect the stored samples and return them for lab analysis on Earth, sometime in the 2030s.

Only then will scientists be able to say with greater confidence whether they truly found signs of ancient life forms.

Related Links
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Landing on Mars is one step closer for British-built rover
London, UK (SPX) Jul 05, 2021
A new and upgraded parachute for the UK-built Rosalind Franklin Mars rover has successfully passed a series of high-altitude tests, bringing further exploration of the Red Planet one step closer. Rosalind Franklin has been built with government backing to try to detect life, past or present, on the Red Planet. After several weeks of delays due to bad weather the latest tests to determine the parachutes' fitness for use in the harsh conditions of Mars saw the descent vehicle dropped from a st ... read more