Mars probe: NASA ahead of an “unimaginable” move

Since perseverance continues on the Mars craft December 29 From the Martian rock, Essol took its last rock sample from the Red Planet, the rover is doomed to lethargy. The reason is the stones that come out of the test tube with No. 261 It fell and is now blocking the rover’s drill ring, which is supposed to move the test tubes.

Now they have to NASAEngineers are taking a step they never imagined before Project Director Jennifer Trosper writes in the NASA Blog about Perseverance. You have to dump the remains of the last rock sample taken back into the Martian soil.

Requests have already been sent. The rover’s robotic arm will now guide the open end of the sample tube to the surface of Mars and let gravity do the rest, the blog post states.

The NASA engineer immediately answers the question of what this is supposed to be useful. It is not currently certain how much rock is still in the test tube. To find out, you just have to empty it.

Work on the drill bit

The next steps will then focus on the gravel blocking the drill ring. circular drilling is rotate to be brought. “We expect that the rotation — and the subsequent movement of the tiles — will help us gather the information we need going forward,” Trober wrote.

It is possible that data on the results of circular rotation will be available in Tuesday to receive. The Mars probe will remain in its current location for at least a week, a NASA engineer writes. They want to examine all aspects of the problem to ensure that such problems do not occur with sampling in the future.

The rover may stay longer as well. Once the drill ring is up and running again, a NASA engineer has announced, another rock sample will likely be taken from the Martian rock.

Analysis only in the thirties

However, it will be years before researchers can analyze rock samples from the Red Planet: only in 2030s NASA plans with European Space Agency (ESA) mission to return it to Earth.