The purpose of the borehole was to create a collection of soil samples. The aim is to look for signs of ancient microbial life that may have remained intact in the debris of the ancient lake. Scientists suspect that about 3.5 billion years ago there was a deep lake that emptied and refilled several times over time. Scientists also hope to gain a better understanding of the geological conditions on Mars.

However, images from the US space agency NASA show that the Mars rover “Perseverance” failed in its first attempt to collect rock samples from the Red Planet. The rover appears to have stacked a small pile with a hole in the middle – the first hole a robot has ever drilled on Mars – but data transmitted by Persistence showed that drilling No rock was collected during

NASA representative Thomas Zurbuchen announced that this was not the expected result. But the team in charge will now work on a “solution” for collecting samples. It is expected to take eleven days to collect the rocks.

“Perseverance” left Florida a year earlier and landed in Jezero Crater on Mars in February. NASA scientist Ken Farley said that since landing on the Red Planet in February, the rover has moved about a kilometer south and is now in an area of ​​much older rock.

Expecting Unprecedented Insights

“When Neil Armstrong took the first samples from the calm ocean 52 years ago, he began a process that should lead to entirely new insights into the Moon,” said research director Thomas Zurbuchen. “I sincerely hope that the first persistence sample from Jezero Crater and all subsequent samples will do the same for Mars.”

The collected samples are to be examined for their chemical and mineral composition to ascertain whether the rock is of volcanic origin or it is a sedimentary rock. In addition, “persistence” is to look for traces of earlier microbial life. It will take years for scientists to analyze the samples themselves: NASA is not planning a mission with the European Space Agency (ESA) to collect samples and return them to Earth until the 2030s.

Mars rover “Perseverance” – shadow on the surface

A Chinese rover is also rolling over to Mars

China first landed on Mars in May. As announced by the Chinese space agency CNSA, the landing module of the spacecraft “Tianwen-1” landed on the surface of the Red Planet with the rover “Zurong”. CNSA boss Zhang Kejian said the mission was “an absolute success” and another “important milestone” of the Chinese space programme, following a report by state news agency Xinhua.

“Tianwen-1” broke from Earth in July 2020 and reached Mars orbit in February. The Chinese mission is one of three flights to Mars that flew past Earth last summer. The United Arab Emirates and the US also sent rockets towards Mars at that time.

Clay/AK (AFP, AP)