{"id":22520,"date":"2021-09-14T17:46:05","date_gmt":"2021-09-14T09:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-is-unraveling-mars-secrets-one-rock-at-a-time\/"},"modified":"2021-09-14T17:46:05","modified_gmt":"2021-09-14T09:46:05","slug":"nasa-is-unraveling-mars-secrets-one-rock-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-is-unraveling-mars-secrets-one-rock-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA is unraveling Mars\u2019 secrets\u2014one rock at a time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Perseverance Rover has collected two samples so far on the Mars, and NASA says they reveal the presence of both ancient water and salt in Jezero Crater<\/p>\n

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On Friday, NASA held a press conference to discuss what the space agency had learned from Perseverance\u2019s historic first and second successful Mars rock samples.  As part of its many objectives, the Perseverance rover is equipped with 43 titanium tubes capable of storing rock samples collected from the Martian surface.   NASA plans to send a series of missions called the \u201cMars Sample Return campaign,\u201d which\u2014as the name suggests\u2014 would return these samples to Earth for detailed analysis.  The rover recently filled the first, and soon after, the second of its tube supply.<\/p>\n

Although not yet returned to Earth (NASA says 2030 at the earliest), researchers could remotely extrapolate some data from the two core samples.  Analysis of \u201cRochette,\u201d the rock from which both samples were taken, revealed that it was formed through volcanic processes.  The rock samples also indicated that the area had been in the presence of persistent water.  However, it\u2019s unclear whether the presence of water indicated by Rochette had been the product of an ancient lake in Jezero Crater or by other means. <\/p>\n

Additionally, the core-sample analysis showed salt still in the Martian rocks.  This is particularly exciting because researchers think the salt minerals could have trapped small bubbles of water.  It\u2019s also worth noting that salt minerals on Earth are fully capable of preserving microscopic lifeforms.<\/p>\n

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