Perseverance is trying again, a new attempt to collect samples from Mars

after the first h Failed attempt to collect a sample of Martian rocks, is a rover determination subordinate NASA Set a new target in the area called “Citadelle,” a steep point overlooking Jezero Crater. So we will not immediately advance towards the south of Sitah, this is the area that ingenuity helicopter he has Filmed in detail thanks to Twelfth Flight, but a more cautious approach will be attempted than the previous one.

A rock that the persistence team called “Rochette” was selected, possibly of sedimentary origin (we don’t know for sure) but certainly interesting for the current goal, which is to test the sampling mechanism. We can see it in the title and in the photographic details below, which were posted by NASA a few hours ago.

this time The initial stage of surface erosion will play an important role, because on the basis of behavior and fragmentation it will be evaluated whether or not to proceed to the next stage of digging and digging. In these hours, the robotic arm will be extended and the attempt will continue, followed by the resistance analysis phase. If the rock is deemed suitable, a sample collection will be attempted next week.

And there will be a novelty in the procedure, in fact, unlike the first attempt this time, another step will be introduced into the sampling sequence. Before closing the tube, the persistence will depend on the Mastcam-Z camera system for Peek at the contents of the tube, and only if there is visual confirmation of the collection, the tube will be closed and stored safely within the storage system.

Then we’ll probably move towards the Sitah region, where the rocks are likely older than those in the present region and particularly useful for reconstructing a more detailed timeline of what happened inside Jezero crater in the last 4 billion years.

As for the rocks in the Citadelle, the present area, they seem to have resisted erosion more. This is a promising sign, because the piercing may be less dangerous. Perseverance will take advantage of the specificity of the region to activate its underground radar RIMFAX (Radar Imaging for the Mars Subsurface Experiment), which is capable of analyzing the underlying rock layers. It will then move to the top of the ridge, where it will be an excellent point to visually search for other potential rocky targets.

As mentioned above, the first sampling attempt was unsuccessful and in all likelihood the crushed rock did not fill the test tube, however we can define it as a partial failure: The test tube was closed anyway and retained a bit of Martian atmosphere insideIt is a collective goal that was planned by NASA for the future and was achieved prematurely.