PIA25073: Perseverance's Sample Tube Looks Clean


Perseverance’s Sample Tube Looks Clean

Caption:

This image taken by the Mastcam-Z camera aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover on Jan. 20, 2022, shows that the rover successfully expelled the remaining large fragments of cored rock from a sample tube held in the drill at the end of its robotic arm. The sample was originally collected by the rover on Dec. 29, 2021, from a rock the team calls "Issole."

This image has been processed to enhance contrast.

Background Info:

Arizona State University in Tempe leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego.

A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology , including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built and manages operations of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover for NASA.

For more about Perseverance:

mars.nasa.gov/mars2020

nasa.gov/perseverance

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Mars 2020
Instrument Host Perseverance
Host Type Rover
Instrument Mastcam-Z
Detector
Extra Keywords Dust, Moon
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2022-01-21
Date in Caption 2021-12-29 2022-01-20
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25073
Identifier PIA25073