NASA's Perseverance drops off another sample tube on Mars

Perseverance, the most advanced rover ever sent to Mars by NASA, has dropped off another sample tube on the Martian surface. This tube holds loose, sandy material collected from a nearby dune earlier this month.

The rover will be dropping 10 tubes at the Three Forks region of Jezero Crater on Mars, with this sample tube being the third. This depot, the first of its kind ever created on a foreign planet by humans, will act as a backup in case the rover is unable to deliver the samples directly to a robotic lander that will transport them to Earth for further study.

Just dropped off another sample tube! This one’s full of loose, sandy material collected from a nearby dune. It’s also my most recent sample, collected earlier this month. 👇 https://t.co/2YLJoMMw1W pic.twitter.com/9U7qScZyHF

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) December 30, 2022

According to NASA, a detailed analysis of Martian regolith could be beneficial for engineers when designing future missions to the Red Planet and the equipment used by astronauts. Dust and regolith can cause harm to spacecraft as well as scientific instruments on it. Regolith can obstruct delicate components and impede the progress of rovers on the surface.

Apollo missions to the Moon revealed that lunar regolith is sharp enough to puncture tiny holes in spacesuits. Regolith could be advantageous if used to protect astronauts from radiation by packing it around a habitat, but it also carries risks. The Martian surface contains perchlorate, a hazardous chemical that could be hazardous to astronauts if they were to inhale or ingest large amounts of it.

The Perseverance rover is part of NASA's Mars 2020 mission, which is the first mission to send a rover to the Red Planet since the Curiosity rover in 2012. The mission will provide invaluable data about the Martian environment and its potential for hosting life.