News From Mars: Success! Perseverance Has Collected a Rock Sample

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Solar System, Earth & Space Sciences, Geology

Ed Hessler 

Mars Rover, Perseverance, has drilled and stored  a core of Martian rock after not being successful in August.

Alexandra Witze explains in this short article from the British journal Nature. It includes a photograph of the sample in the boring tool before it was sealed, the Rover drilling into the rock, and the borehole in the rock after drilling. The goal is to collect some 35 samples. This will be followed by a long period of waiting "until future spacecraft retrieve it,"at least no earlier than 2031. 

The samples are being taken from Jesero Crater and this link includes history and many photographs of the crater.

And if you were wondering about the crater's name, here it is.

3 Cheers and a Hip Hip Hoorah!