ＮＡＳＡ探査車、火星の岩石サンプル採取に成功か

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米航空宇宙局（ＮＡＳＡ）は２日、火星で探査車「パーシビアランス」が岩石サンプルの採取に成功したとみられると明らかにした。（写真は火星の岩石。米航空宇宙局＜ＮＡＳＡ＞の火星探査車「パーシビアランス」がサンプル採取のために開けた穴がある。ＮＡＳＡ提供）
　１度目の試みは岩が細かく砕けたことで失敗したが、１日夜に受信したデータによると、２度目の今回は成功したとみられる。
　ＮＡＳＡは、探査車のアームがサンプル採取を完了した後に撮影された画像が不鮮明だったことから、結果はやや不確かだと説明した。より良い日照条件で撮影された画像が４日までに送られてくる予定だという。
　ＮＡＳＡジェット推進研究所（ＪＰＬ）のプロジェクトマネジャー、ジェニファー・トロスパー氏は、「チームは場所を決定し、採取可能で科学的に価値のある岩石を選択し、採取した」と説明した。「今後、画像の日照条件という小さな問題を克服していく。チューブの中にサンプルがあると信じている」
　サンプル採取の対象となった岩石は、「ロシェット」と呼ばれており、長さ９００メートルほどの小高い尾根にある。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/09/03-13:52）

NASA's Perseverance rover succeeded in its second attempt to scoop up a piece of Martian rock for future analysis by scientists on Earth -- probably.
Its first effort earlier this month failed after the rock was too crumbly to withstand the robot's drill, but data received late on September 1 indicates the process worked this time around.
The US space agency said Thursday it remains a little uncertain, because images taken after the rover's arm completed sample acquisition were inconclusive due to poor sunlight conditions.
More images taken under better lighting are expected back by Saturday.
The team determined a location, and selected and cored a viable and scientifically valuable rock, Jennifer Trosper, project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said in a statement.
We will work through this small hiccup with the lighting conditions in the images and remain encouraged that there is sample in this tube.
The target was a briefcase-sized rock nicknamed Rochette from a ridgeline that is half a mile (900 meters) long.
Perseverance, NASA's latest Mars rover, landed on the planet's Jezero crater -- the site on an ancient lake -- in February on a mission to search for signs of ancient microbial life.
Its turret-mounted scientific instruments are able to determine chemical and mineral composition and look for organic matter, as well as better characterize the planet's geological processes.
It uses a drill and a hollow coring bit at the end of its 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm to extract samples slightly thicker than a pencil, which it stores under its belly.
NASA plans a mission to bring around 30 samples back to Earth in the 2030s, where scientists will be able to conduct more detailed analysis that might confirm there was microbial life.