NASA’s Perseverance rover simply had a uncommon misstep. The area company has revealed that the robotic car failed to gather Mars rock samples throughout its first try. While the percussive drill, coring bit and pattern tube processing labored “as intended,” a probe indicated that the tube was empty — not precisely what scientists have been anticipating when every thing else checked out.

Scientists are nonetheless investigating what occurred and will not have a solution for a couple of days. Perseverance mission supervisor Jennifer Trosper stated the crew suspected the rock may need reacted in an sudden manner through the coring course of. The gear is probably going nice, in different phrases.

The Martian floor has created issues greater than as soon as. The Phoenix Lander had hassle gathering “sticky” soil in 2008, for example, whereas Curiosity and InSight have additionally had hassle cracking into rocks and the floor itself.

This preliminary setback will not essentially jeopardize Perseverance’s mission. However, NASA will need to hold incidents like this to a minimal. The rover was despatched to Mars in no small half to gather samples that may ultimately return to Earth and assist scientists search for indicators of previous life. The fewer samples NASA will get, the less probabilities it must discover Mars’ historical past.