Since mid-December, the Perseverance rover stopped several times to place on the ground tubes filled with samples drilled and collected during its two-year mission on Mars. It’s actually insurance, with ten tubes laid out in case the robot suffers a major breakdown within the decade.
And the way to get them back will be spectacular!
I drop you?
For the past two weeks, the great rover Perseverance has been following a strange course. In a particularly flat and deserted area, here he is following a large pattern with long stops… But when he leaves, he leaves behind him what furiously looks like small lightsabers. It is however the Jezero crater on Mars and not the planet Tatooine of Star Wars: the robot of almost a ton currently deposits ten sealed tubes. Inside, the result of its drilling on the bottom of this ancient lake area, the banks of its delta and dust samples taken from the surface. A collection of inestimable scientific value for understanding the past of Mars… But then, why deposit them?
Bring the bits of Mars back to Earth
Perseverance has already collected 18 samples, and to understand why it is depositing several, we must return to the long-term objective of the mission, the MSR (Mars Sample Return). The contents of these sealed tubes must indeed be brought back to Earth, a common objective of NASA associated with ESA. And of course there are still many steps to get there: a vehicle will take off to land in the Jezero crater, with a small rocket on its back capable of sending the samples into Mars orbit. Then the European orbiter ERO will capture the small capsule to bring it back to Earth. But a crucial element is to have the samples collected by Perseverance. For a time, the agencies had planned a rover responsible only for looking for the tubes at “collection points”, but the option was considered more complex than expected. It is therefore Perseverance (which is doing like a charm) which will bring its own hits back to the platform. But if ever the latter, for one reason or another, were to break down? The ten samples currently deposited then play the role of insurance.
The very serious Martian helicopters
Because the platform equipped with a rocket to send the collected tubes back into orbit will be equipped with what seemed two years ago as the most ambitious innovation of Martian missions: one or two multirotor helicopters. The 36 flights of the Ingenuity demonstrator have indeed given the teams a lot of hope for future functions, and among them is the collection of tubes deposited by Perseverance. NASA is sufficiently confident in the technology to entrust the return to the platform to these robotic helicopters!
Finally, you may be wondering if a decade from now, the samples will not be difficult to find under a thick layer of Martian sand and dust? Do not panic. Firstly because it is a mental image taken from Hollywood clichés (like in the film Alone on Mars…) and because the Martian wind ultimately carries very little dust: a few millimeters at the most on the planet. timescale that agencies are interested in finding hits. Then, because their location is precisely documented. And finally, because the multirotor device that will go looking for them will be equipped with on-board optical sensors that are powerful enough to identify them correctly. But all that is still the future. For now, Perseverance is laying down its precious tubes, before resuming drilling!
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-s-perseverance-rover-deposits-first-sample-on-mars-surface
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