Five down, five to go: NASA's Perseverance rover just dropped off another sample tube on Mars

NASA’s Perseverance has successfully dropped yet another sample tube on the Martian surface. This was the fifth of the 10 titanium sample tubes that will make up the backup depot at Three Forks, an area located near the base of an ancient river delta in the Red Planet's Jezero Crater.

This tube contains a core sample from a rock that formed from magma, and then was altered by water several times. It could help scientists understand the early history of this area, when life may have been present, NASA said in a tweet on Friday.

On Friday, NASA's Perseverance rover celebrated its first Martian year on the Red Planet, having completed 687 Earth days since its landing.

Five down, five to go, as I lay down my backup set of 10 samples. In this tube: a core sample from a rock that formed from magma, then was altered by water several times. It could help scientists understand the early history of this area, when life may have been present. 🔎🪨 pic.twitter.com/TOYDSlNrzz

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) January 6, 2023

For those who are unfamiliar, Perseverance has taken two samples from each Mars rock it has encountered so far - one sample to be left on the surface in a backup depot, and the other kept inside the rover's belly to be sent directly to NASA's Sample Retrieval Lander in the future, as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign to return the first scientifically selected samples from the surface of another planet to Earth.

A pair of Sample Recovery Helicopters will retrieve the samples cached at Three Forks, should the rover be unable to deliver the samples itself to the lander. The Sample Retrieval Lander is planned to launch in 2028 and the samples are expected to arrive on Earth in 2033.