This story is part of Welcome to Mars, our series exploring the red planet.
The Perseverance rover’s rock collecting journey is about to enter a new phase. NASA’s wheeled explorer has been stuffing bits of Martian rocks into tiny tubes and carrying them around. Soon it will unload some of them at a site that will become “the first sample depot on Mars.”
On Friday, NASA announced the selection of a place named Three Forks as Percy’s drop-off spot for its precious cargo. It’s located near the base of an ancient river delta the rover’s been exploring inside the Jezero Crater. The space agency shared an image of the Martian landscape with Three Forks in the distance.
NASA is working with the European Space Agency on the ambitious Mars Sample Return mission, a multi-stage endeavor that will involve going to the red planet, landing on Mars, picking up sample tubes, rocketing off the surface and then bringing the tubes all the way back to Earth for study. This could be our best chance for finding definitive evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars, if it existed.
“NASA and ESA have reviewed the proposed site and the Mars samples that will be deployed for this cache as soon as next month,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for science. “When that first tube is positioned on the surface, it will be a historic moment in space exploration.”
NASA Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter explore the wilds of Mars
The samples Percy has gathered at the river delta region are particularly exciting for scientists. The rover’s lab equipment found intriguing signs of organic matter, but it will take closer study on Earth to fully understand what that means.
NASA’s been planning ahead to give the sample return mission its best chance of success. The rover has been collecting samples in pairs so it can drop some on the ground and stash away the duplicates for safekeeping. The plan is for Perseverance to deliver its samples in person when the return mission arrives. The Three Forks depot will be a backup site in case that doesn’t work out.
After its rock drop, Perseverance will continue to investigate the delta region and its history of water, and will likely collect more rocks along the way. The rover has only been in residence on Mars since early 2021 and it has a lot of science ahead.
