NASA rover collects first sample of Martian soil

NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover has collected the first soil sample from the Red Planet, Chief Project Engineer Adam Steltzner tweeted, Report informs.

“We have a sample! I’ve never been more happy to see a hole in a rock,” Steltzner tweeted.

#SamplingMars is underway. I’ve drilled into my rock target, and my team will be looking at more data and images to confirm if we were able to get and retain an intact core.

Latest images: https://t.co/Ex1QDo3eC2 pic.twitter.com/OqezgznnPi

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) September 2, 2021

Perseverance made a successful landing on Mars in mid-February. The rover landed in the Martian crater Jezero, in which scientists found traces of the river delta. Experts believe that traces of life could have survived there.

On April 22, it became known that the rover, for the first time, managed to extract oxygen samples from the planet’s atmosphere.

Perseverance is to collect the first rock and soil samples from the Red Planet. The samples are planned to be delivered to Earth for study in the future.