The Mars rover Perseverance has cleaned the storage carousel for the soil samples and removed the interfering dirt. This was announced by Avi Okon from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and explained that a busy month was coming to an end.
It was already suspected at the weekend that the dirt had been removed, but the confirmation was only received after the storage technology had been completely rotated without any obstacle being noticed. Nevertheless, the rover was once again persuaded to use vibrations to remove possible remains. The technology for collecting soil samples, which can now be used again without restrictions, will now be used again directly, he added.
Dirt falling from Perseverance.
(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS)
Cleaned with patience
Perseverance had encountered difficulties stowing the sixth soil sample. Analysis and photos had shown that there were small stones in the carousel used to store the samples, which had to be removed. While it wasn’t unexpected for those responsible on Earth, they still wanted to take it easy on the problem. First they turned the merry-go-round, which caused the first two stones to be thrown out – this could even be filmed.
The floor under Perseverance before and after the cleanup
(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
The remaining pieces were then removed using the drill, explains NASA. The days that followed were then spent examining the rover’s interior and finding possible remains. In the meantime, however, it is certain that the dirt is under the rover. He can now go back to his actual work.
The Perseverance, which arrived last February, is the first-ever rover to collect soil samples on Mars for analysis on Earth. When they’re all together, he’s supposed to place them on the ground, where they’re supposed to be picked up in a future mission. When Perseverance was supposed to take the first sample in August, there were difficulties and the container remained empty. Later, however, the first withdrawal worked and since then Perseverance has filled and stored several more sample containers. The seventh extraction, once interrupted, had begun on December 29 and was later broken off. When the container was handed over to the storage facility in the rover, the sensors had detected an anomaly, and then the offending dirt had been found.
(mho)