Woo-hoo! NASA's Perseverance rover places fourth sample tube on Mars

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has kicked off 2023 with a major milestone: the successful placement of the fourth sample tube at the Three Forks region of the Red Planet. This marks a significant step forward in the creation of the first-ever sample depot on a foreign planet by humans, with 40% of the depot now complete.

Over the next two months, the rover will deposit a total of 10 titanium sample tubes as a backup set, in case it is unable to deliver the samples directly to a robotic lander that will transport them to Earth for further study.

Each sample tube weighs less than 2 ounces (57 grams) and has a white exterior coating to protect them from the Sun's heat, which could alter the chemical composition of the samples. The tubes also have laser-etched serial numbers on the outside, so the team can identify them and what they contain.

🔴🔴🔴🔴⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪Sample Depot: 40% complete!Another successful tube drop adds to my growing collection here at the “Three Forks” location. Four of the 10 tubes I’m leaving here as a backup set are down. More on my samples: https://t.co/SuSfqeBI37 pic.twitter.com/UNjgtqSFh2

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) January 4, 2023

The sample depot marks a historic early step in the Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign - an ambitious effort by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) to bring samples of Martian soil and rock back to Earth for further study. The MSR mission is an important step in the exploration of Mars and will provide invaluable data for scientists.

The mission will help to answer some of the most fundamental questions about Mars and its potential for hosting life. This knowledge can then be used to inform future exploration and research of the Red Planet.