A NASA research team has collected rocks from Mars. These stones will be brought to Earth for further research. The plan is that the rocks will be introduced by 2030.
Quoted by NBC News (9/10/2022), astronomers are eagerly waiting for these rock samples to arrive on Earth. Analysis of rock samples from Mars will answer questions about when water flows on Mars.
As is well known, one of the main objectives of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission is to determine when the planet’s conditions are favorable for the formation of liquid water. NASA representatives said there were four rocks considered interesting.
These rocks were collected from inside the Jezero crater. This area is located on Mars and is predicted to have rivers and lakes that formed billions of years ago.
This area is also a prime place to look for signs of ancient microbial life. The Perseverance rover that landed on Mars collected samples and began identifying igneous rocks when they were brought to Earth.
The rocks will be introduced in the 1930s
The Perseverance explorers managed to collect samples from the Jezero Crater but could not directly conduct an analysis there. These rocks must be brought to Earth.
Possible rock samples Mars it will be carried around in 2030. NASA claims that some rocks contain concentrations of organic matter.
These organic molecules usually consist of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. So it can be predicted that once upon a time there was life on the Red Planet.
“I personally find these results very moving because it seems like we are in the right place with the right tools at a very important time,” said Sunanda Sharma, mission scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Visit to Mars
Astronomers were able to pay a visit to Mars starting in February 2021. In this exploration, the team was able to visit the 28-mile-wide Jezero Crater Basin.
The exploration team had already managed to find igneous rocks. This rock probably formed deep underground due to volcanic processes, at the bottom of the crater.
The rock in this crater is estimated to have formed 3.5 billion years ago from an ancient river that flows into Jezero.
“This extraordinary explorer has collected a very tempting array of rocks with enormous scientific potential,” said Laurie Leshin, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
This exploration has collected 12 rocky nuclei considered scientifically interesting.
Surface exploration mission Mars is the first step of a “Mars Sample Return” campaign. This campaign is a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency. The next mission will send another spacecraft to Mars to collect samples and transport them to Earth for more detailed analysis.
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