Preliminary findings from Perseverance continue to intrigue. Since July, the Mars rover has collected four samples from an ancient river delta inside the Jezero Crater. Using the SHERLOC instrument, scientists discovered that these samples contain the highest levels of organic material the team has found so far.
NASA and the European Space Agency hope to retrieve the samples and return them to Earth as early as 2033 through a joint campaign. The team will be able to study the samples more thoroughly once they’re on Earth – and they might even answer the question of whether there was once life on Mars!
Want to know more about Perseverance and Red Canyon’s work on the mission? Check out the links below!
Perseverance rover collects organics-rich Mars samples for future return to Earth
NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover: To Sample or Not To Sample
NASA’s Perseverance rover to drill first samples of martian rock
