{"id":23235,"date":"2021-09-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=23235"},"modified":"2021-10-22T11:41:15","modified_gmt":"2021-10-22T11:41:15","slug":"sample-slip-up-for-mars-rover-perseverance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/2021\/09\/16\/sample-slip-up-for-mars-rover-perseverance\/","title":{"rendered":"Sample slip-up for Mars rover Perseverance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rock specimen appears to have crumbled when it was picked up<\/p>\n\n

\"\"
(Left:) Perseverance casts a shadow over the bore hole in the Martian surface; (right) the rock proved to be too powdery for a sample<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

The first attempt to collect a sample from the surface of Mars using NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover ended in failure on 6 August. Fortunately, the fault seems to lie with the rock, not the rover, meaning Perseverance is still on track to complete its main mission of creating caches of samples for a future spacecraft to return to Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

The rover made its first attempt at acquiring a sample after 164 sols (Martian days) on the surface. Initial feedback showed everything had gone to plan \u2013 the drill reached a depth of 7cm and the sample tube was successfully stored. When the team received a more detailed update six hours later, however, things didn\u2019t look as optimistic.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWithin minutes, the team noted that the volume probe indicated no sample was in the tube,\u201d said Jennifer Trosper, Perseverance\u2019s project manager, in an online report. \u201cWe quickly switched to problem-solving mode \u2013 once again trying to solve another problem tossed our way from the surface of Mars.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

It seems the rock was far more powdery than anything encountered during testing and crumbled during collection. The team have now turned their eyes towards a region named Citadelle, further along Perseverance\u2019s planned route, where it is hoped the rocks have a more solid texture.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe will first abrade the selected rock and use the science instruments to confirm (to the best of our ability) that the new target is likely to result in a core after the sampling process,\u201d says Trosper. The sampling routine will now also image the tube while it is still in the drill to confirm a sample was collected. <\/p>\n\n

https:\/\/mars.nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n\n

\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Comment by Chris Lintott<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Perseverance isn\u2019t the first lander to struggle with getting Martian soil where it needs to be \u2013 the stuff has been driving scientists mad for decades. I remember filming with the Phoenix team, as their joy at getting the craft safely down in the Martian arctic turned \u2013 slightly \u2013 to frustration: its soil sample had simply stuck to the lander\u2019s scoop rather than trickling into the instrument it was intended for.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

More recently, the InSight lander\u2019s \u2018mole\u2019 \u2013a heat probe designed to dig deep into the ground \u2013 failed to bite into the surface, leaving it stranded, a victim of the tendency for the soil to clump together.<\/p>\n\n

All of these problems could be solved in seconds by an astronaut capable of wielding a brush (or, I guess, a spade in the case of the mole). It may be that the best argument for sending people to the Red Planet is just that its soil is quite so annoying! Chris Lintott co-presents The Sky at Night <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Photos: NASA\/JPL-CALTECH\/MSSS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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