NASA's Perseverance Mars rover fails to collect rock samples in search of alien life

NASA's Mars rover Perseverance failed its initial attempt to collect rock samples from the red planet, the American space agency informed on Saturday. Exploring the Jezero Crater on Mars, NASA's Perseverance had to indulge in one of the most complicated tasks involving drilling holes, collecting samples, and then sealing them in tubes. While the rover did manage to drill a hole, it failed to collect the sample in the tube, as per NASA. Perseverance carries 43 titanium sample tubes and is expected to gather samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and dust) for future analysis on Earth for the NASA Mars Mission.

"Data sent to Earth by NASA's Perseverance rover after its first attempt to collect a rock sample on Mars and seal it in a sample tube indicate that no rock was collected during the initial sampling activity," NASA said in a statement. 

The telemetry from above the rover has indicated that the NASA Mars rover managed to drill a hole as planned, and post-coring, the sample tube was processed was attempted. However, scientists think that the empty tube of the NASA Mars rover is more likely a result of the rock target not reacting the way they expected during coring. The Perseverance mission is assembling a response team to analyze the data and the next sample collection attempt would be scheduled after a better understanding.

"Over the next few days, the team will be spending more time analyzing the data we have, and also acquiring some additional diagnostic data to support understanding the root cause for the empty tube," said Jennifer Trosper, project manager for Perseverance at JPL.

NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover

Perseverance's mission on Mars has been initiated with an aim towards astrobiology. It will be searching for signs of ancient microbial life or extraterrestrial life on Mars. The rover will also characterize the planet's geology and past climate, paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and catch Martian rock and regolith.

According to NASA, Perseverance is exploring two geologic units containing Jezero Crater's deepest and most ancient layers of exposed bedrock and other intriguing geologic features. The first unit called the "Crater Floor Fractured Rough" is the floor of Jezero while the adjacent unit, named "Séítah" has Mars bedrock and is also home to ridges, layered rocks, and sand dunes.