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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s newest Mars rover has completed its first sample capture by lifting its tube of rock to return to Earth.
The Perseverance rover team confirmed last week’s successful drilling and collection after reviewing photos of the core sample. NASA wanted to make sure it was safe inside the titanium tube, for example, before sharing the news on Monday.
During Perseverance’s first sampling attempt in early August, the unexpectedly soft rock shattered. Flight controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, searched for harder rock for the second trial.
Perseverance arrived at Mars’ Jezero Crater, an ancient lake bed and river delta, in February in search of rocks that may contain evidence of past Martian life. The spacecraft of the future will collect samples and deliver them to Earth ten years from now. The rover has more than 40 sample tubes.
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