NASA’s Perseverance Rover to Discuss New Mars Sample Today
Washington, D.C. — NASA will hold a media teleconference at 11 a.m. EDT today, September 10, to discuss the analysis of a rock sample collected by its Perseverance Mars rover. The sample, named “Sapphire Canyon,” was taken in July 2024 from rocky outcrops near Neretva Vallis, an ancient river valley within Jezero Crater.
The upcoming conference will provide insights into findings that will be detailed in a forthcoming scientific paper. Participants from NASA include Acting Administrator Sean Duffy, Nicky Fox from the Science Mission Directorate, and Lindsay Hays, who focuses on Mars exploration.
Perseverance, which landed in Jezero Crater in February 2021, has already collected 30 samples during its mission. The rover has six empty tubes left for potential additional samples as it continues to study various geological features and remain open to new discoveries.
Key tools aboard Perseverance include a weather station that gathers environmental data important for future human missions and an abrasion tool for examining rock surfaces not directly sampled. The rover’s findings could provide critical information on the planet’s past conditions, including the potential for past life.
<p"Sapphire Canyon" is notably derived from an arrowhead-shaped rock collected from a location known as "Cheyava Falls," where scientists observed patterns suggesting there may have been chemical processes associated with life. Research scientist Morgan Cable remarked on the mystery surrounding the Sapphire Canyon sample, saying, “Could life have been involved? Or something that didn’t involve life at all? We’re not going to know until we bring that sample back and do some more measurements.”
Audio and visuals from the teleconference will be available on NASA’s website, allowing the public to follow the discussion. This presentation is part of NASA’s ongoing efforts to enhance understanding of the Martian environment and the history of the Red Planet.
