- The Perseverance Rover’s first drilling attempt on Mars was unsuccessful, according to NASA
- The agency said, on Friday, that although the rover’s coring bit and percussive drill performed as planned, the tube collecting samples was empty after the drilling attempt
- NASA stressed the drilling was meant to give scientists a better understanding of the planet’s sedimentary history
PASADENA, California: The Perseverance Rover’s first drilling attempt on Mars was unsuccessful, according to NASA.
The agency said, on Friday, that although the rover’s coring bit and percussive drill performed as planned, the tube collecting samples was empty after the drilling attempt.
“The sampling process is autonomous from beginning to end,” said Jessica Samuels, Surface Mission Manager for Perseverance at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, as quoted by United Press International.
Perseverance’s team members planned to analyze data from the drilling. NASA noted that once the data has been evaluated, the team can schedule the next drilling attempt.
“The initial thinking is that the empty tube is more likely a result of the rock target not reacting as expected during coring, and less likely a hardware issue with the sampling and caching system,” said Jennifer Trosper, Project Manager for Perseverance at JPL.
“Over the next few days, the team will spend more time analyzing the data we have, as well as acquiring some additional diagnostic data,” she added.
This week’s drilling took place in an area known as Crater Floor Fractured Rough in the Jezero Crater. Images from the Ingenuity helicopter showed the area had promising signs of water activity on an ancient lakebed.
NASA stressed the drilling was meant to give scientists a better understanding of the planet’s sedimentary history.
“While this is not the ‘hole-in-one’ we hoped for, there were always risks involved when breaking new ground. I am confident we have the right team working on this, and we will persevere towards a solution to ensure future success,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, as reported by United Press International.
Perseverance and Ingenuity were launched from Florida on 30th July, 2020 and arrived at Mars on 18th February, 2021.
