NASA’s Perseverance collects Berea, the first sample from Mars of its new science campaign

NASA’s Perseverance rover, while cruising through the Martian surface, reached the milestone of collecting the first sample of its new science campaign. Each sample return campaign helps NASA's team explore a new area of Mars and bring back valuable rocks from the planet for deeper analysis.

On Thursday, the rover explored the top of Jezero Crater’s delta, where it found a rock that the team now calls “Berea". According to NASA's official website, it is the first sample of the particular campaign, and the 16th cored rock sample of the mission. It is believed that Berea came into being through rock deposits that trickled downstream of an old river.

“The rock is rich in carbonate. Carbonate rocks on Earth can be good at preserving fossilised lifeforms. If biosignatures were present in this part of Jezero Crater, it could be a rock like this one that could very well hold their secrets," said Katie Stack Morgan, deputy project scientist for Perseverance at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Back to the grind! I’m #SamplingMars yet again, with the first rock core of my new science campaign exploring the top of Jezero Crater’s delta.

My coring drill is working well, and my team’s excited about what this rock may hold. Here’s why: https://t.co/Tfx3vGiRUR pic.twitter.com/DVlduom2Jf

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere)

On Mars, NASA's Perseverance rover remains at work

So far, Perseverance has accumulated 19 samples in total and three witness tubes. In addition to that, it recently submitted 10 tubes as a backup cache for the NASA-ESA (European Space Agency) Mars Sample Return campaign. The goal of the samples is to help scientists on Earth determine whether Mars ever sustained ancient microbial life and to understand how water has contributed to the red planet's surface and interior.  

Elucidating why the Berea sample is crucial, Perseverance’s project scientist Ken Farley said: “The Berea core highlights the beauty of rover missions. Perseverance’s mobility has allowed us to collect igneous samples from the relatively flat crater floor during the first campaign, and then travel to the base of the crater’s delta, where we found fine-grained sedimentary rocks deposited in a dried lakebed."