Perseverance has prepared a Christmas gift for scientists. Eventually, a planetary researcher will crack up a vial containing Martian rocks. At least seventeen of these rock and regolith samples were brought back to Earth by the Perseverance rover and are now undergoing examination. The rover has traveled almost 13 kilometers on its geology field trip to Mars to get them.
Since it landed, the rover has been digging holes and picking up rocks and sand to store in its transport tubes. This week, it unloaded for the first time at a community known as “Three Forks.” Pieces of the igneous rock discovered in January of this year are housed in that tube.
This wasn’t a simple case of dropping something and running. Scientists on the mission needed to ensure the capsule touched down undamaged. For that reason, they proceeded cautiously. At first, we removed the canister from Perseverance’s stomach. Then it took a camera scan of the area before lowering the tube to the ground from a height of 90 centimeters.
Later, a picture showed the sample lying on its side, where it could be easily picked up by the mission’s scientists. In some point, all of the containers that Perseverance has filled will arrive at laboratories on Earth. Researchers will examine the samples to deduce their chemical and mineral compositions.
Mars is crisscrossed with canyons. As a result of the planet’s craters, material from great depths has been unearthed. It’s also been shown that liquid water formerly flowed in several locations on Mars. But there is now no water flow. All of it is frozen underground or at the poles. Where can we look to learn more about Earth’s past?
Examining chunks of granite is the simplest approach. There are igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, and clays on Mars. Dust and sand may be found almost everywhere as well. When and where on Mars lava flowed, and whether or not lakes and seas existed, may be determined by studying all of these factors.
The age of the volcanoes may be determined by a careful scientific examination of igneous materials. To determine whether rocks on Mars ever came into touch with water, planetary scientists will analyze their chemical and mineralogical compositions. In the end, scientists should be able to use that data to determine whether and when life may have existed on Mars.
Tiesha loves to share her passion for everything that’s beautiful in this world. Apart from writing on her beauty blog and running her own beauty channel on Youtube, she also enjoys traveling and photography. Tiesha covers various stories on the website.