> According to NASA, Perseverance has used all of its available instrumentation to study Chevaya Falls. "We have zapped that rock with lasers and X-rays and imaged it literally day and night from just about every angle imaginable," said Ken Farley, Perseverance project scientist. "Scientifically, Perseverance has nothing more to give."
> The discovery provides some wind in the sails for NASA's flagging efforts to devise and fly a Mars Sample Return mission. The agency's most recent plan, costing $11 billion, was determined to be too expensive. Now, the space agency is asking the industry for help. In June it commissioned 10 studies on alternative means of returning rocks from Mars sooner, and presumably for a lower cost.
> Now, scientists can point to rocks like Chevaya Falls and say this is precisely why they must be studied in ultra-capable labs back on Earth.
Do they have any more sample tubes left on the rover to use for this rock?
That sample has already been taken. Next, we need to finish engineering the sample retrieval mission, then build it, then launch it, then have it work on Mars, then launch it back, then have it safely land on Earth, and finally have it analyzed in a lab. Piece of cake.
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[ 5.6 ms ] story [ 13.8 ms ] thread> The discovery provides some wind in the sails for NASA's flagging efforts to devise and fly a Mars Sample Return mission. The agency's most recent plan, costing $11 billion, was determined to be too expensive. Now, the space agency is asking the industry for help. In June it commissioned 10 studies on alternative means of returning rocks from Mars sooner, and presumably for a lower cost.
> Now, scientists can point to rocks like Chevaya Falls and say this is precisely why they must be studied in ultra-capable labs back on Earth.
Do they have any more sample tubes left on the rover to use for this rock?