The last sample was posted on January 29, 2023
The American Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA shared news about the achievements of the Perseverance rover on the Red Planet.
At the end of December, Perseverance left the first tube on the surface of Mars, beginning to form the first sample repository in human history on another planet. There are now 10 pipes in a place called Three Forks, as originally planned. This goal was reached in less than six weeks, while previously it was two months. The repository was fully “staffed” on Sunday, January 29 (January 30 Moscow time), 2023.
This important milestone included precise planning and navigation to ensure the safe removal of the tubes in the future as part of a joint campaign with ESA (European Space Agency) to return samples from Mars to Earth, NASA said.
Throughout its scientific career, the rover has taken a couple of samples from all the rocks that the mission team considered important from a scientific point of view. One sample from each pair was placed in a warehouse in the Three Forks area of the Lake crater. Storage on the surface of Mars is considered a fallback in case Perseverance is unable to deliver samples to the lander. In this case, a couple of helicopters will be sent to complete the work for the samples.
