
A portion of a cored-rock sample is ejected from the rotary percussive drill on NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. The imagery was collected by the rover's Mastcam-Z instrument on Jan. 15, 2022, the 322nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission, during an experiment that oriented the drill and sample tube (unseen here) around 9 degrees below horizontal and then rotated and extended the drill's spindle. The Mastcam-Z investigation is led and operated by Arizona State University in Tempe, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Neils Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Animation available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25072
Most NASA images are in the public domain and free to use. Credit NASA as the source. Check NASA's media usage guidelines for details. Images featuring identifiable individuals may require additional permissions.
NASA ID
PIA25072
Date Created
January 21, 2022
Center
JPL
Media Type
image
Download this image in multiple resolutions. All NASA media are free for public use.
480px