China News Service, September 7th. According to foreign media reports, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) confirmed on the 6th that its "Perseverance" Mars probe successfully collected the first rock sample, which will be brought back in the future. The earth is for scientists to study.
The official Twitter of NASA's "Perseverance" Mars Rover issued a post on the 5th, saying, "I picked it up!" and showed a sample of the core in the sample tube. The sample looked a little thicker than a pencil.
Image source: Screenshot of the official social media account of NASA's "Perseverance" Mars Rover
Later, the account released an official message stating, “I have collected, sealed and stored the first core sample drilled on another planet, hoping to bring the sample back to Earth. This is a unique collection of Martian rocks. The first piece in it."
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement: "This is a major achievement, and I can't wait to see the incredible discoveries made by Perseverance and our team."
According to reports, the sampling and storage system of the Perseverance rover is the most complicated mechanism ever sent into space, consisting of more than 3,000 components.
On August 7, NASA announced that the "Perseverance" rover tried to collect a rock sample on Mars and sealed it in a sample tube for the first time, but the data sent to Earth later showed that no rock was collected during this sampling activity. sample.
It is reported that the Perseverance successfully completed the landing on Mars in February.
This is NASA's ninth probe to visit the surface of Mars and the first probe to take samples from Mars for return to Earth.
The rock and soil samples it collected from Mars will be brought back to Earth in other Mars exploration missions in the future.