{"id":241796,"date":"2025-06-26T02:12:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T16:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?p=880644"},"modified":"2025-06-26T02:12:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T16:12:16","slug":"nasas-perseverance-rover-scours-mars-for-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=241796","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Perseverance Rover Scours Mars for Science"},"content":{"rendered":"
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6 min read<\/p>\n

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In addition to drilling rock core samples, the science team has been grinding its way into rocks to make sense of the scientific evidence hiding just below the surface.<\/em><\/p>\n

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NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover uses an abrading bit to get below the surface of a rocky out-crop nicknamed \u201cKenmore\u201d on June 10. The eight images that make up this video were taken approximately one minute apart by one of the rover\u2019s front hazard-avoidance cameras. <\/div>\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On June 3, NASA\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover ground down a portion of a rock surface, blew away the resulting debris, and then went to work studying its pristine interior with a suite of instruments designed to determine its mineralogic makeup and geologic origin. \u201cKenmore,\u201d as nicknamed by the rover science team, is the 30th Martian rock that Perseverance has subjected to such in-depth scrutiny, beginning with drilling a two-inch-wide (5-centimeter-wide) abrasion patch.  <\/p>\n

\u201cKenmore was a weird, uncooperative rock,\u201d said Perseverance\u2019s deputy project scientist, Ken Farley from Caltech in Pasadena, California. \u201cVisually, it looked fine \u2014 the sort of rock we could get a good abrasion on and perhaps, if the science was right, perform a sample collection. But during abrasion, it vibrated all over the place and small chunks broke off. Fortunately, we managed to get just far enough below the surface to move forward with an analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The science team wants to get below the weathered, dusty surface of Mars rocks to see important details about a rock\u2019s composition and history. Grinding away an abrasion patch also creates a flat surface that enables Perseverance\u2019s science instruments to get up close and personal with the rock.<\/p>\n