Mon 13 September 2021:
NASA scientists said on Friday that the first two rock cores excavated out of Mars’ surface environment by the Perseverance Rover will provide hints to the existence of ancient life on the Red Planet
“The presence of salts indicates that this rock was subject to water,” Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) return sample scientist Yulia Goreva told a podcast press conference. “The science team is excited because this rock can be interrogated for its chemistry and salt: Within it, we can look for tiny inclusions of fluids.”
The two drilled core samples are 5.
9 and 6.1 centimeters long. Eventually, up to 35 more samples are planned to be collected and they will be returned to Earth no sooner than 2031, scientists said.
The Perseverance Rover vehicle continues to be healthy and it has traveled 2.2 kilometers or 1.4 miles so far on its mission, JPL Perseverance surface emission manager Jessica Samuels told the briefing.
Samuels added that the vehicle’s continuous investigation of the Jezero Crater will provide NASA scientists with a view of the region billions of years ago, when it was ancient and wet and capable of supporting life.
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