NASA’s Mars rover failed to collect rocks to find alien life

NASA’s Perseverance drilled into the surface of Mars, but failed in its initial attempt to collect rock samples, which will be collected by scientists on Earth for analysis in future missions.

NASA released an image of a small mound on Friday, with a hole in the center of the mound, close to the rover-this is the first time a robot has dug a hole on this red planet.

However, the data sent to Earth by the rover after the first attempt to collect the sample and seal it in a tube indicated that no rock was collected.

“Although this is not the’hole-in-one’ we hope for, there are always risks in opening up new horizons,” said Thomas Zubchin, deputy director of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in a statement.

“I believe we have the right team to solve this problem, and we will persistently seek solutions to ensure future success.”

Drilling is the first step in the sampling process and is expected to take about 11 days. The purpose is to find signs of ancient microbial life that may be preserved in ancient lake bed sediments.

Scientists also hope to better understand the geology of Mars.

The mission took off from Florida more than a year ago and landed at the Jezero Crater on February 18. Its size is equivalent to a large family car.

Scientists believe that this crater contained a deep lake 3.5 billion years ago, where conditions may be able to support alien life.

NASA plans to bring about 30 samples back to Earth in the 2030s for analysis by instruments that are much more complex than those that can be brought to Mars today.