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This suggested that the rocks were harder and therefore easier to take a sample of.
This time Perseverance successfully extracted and stored two core samples from the grayish, wind-polished rock.
But scientists dont have to wait that long to learn about the rocks.
At both sites, Perseverance used theSHERLOCandPIXLspectrometers on its arm to measure the composition of the rocks.
First in flight
Perseverance may be a long way from Earth, but it has a sidekick.
This short hop showed that its long blades could generate enough lift to allow flight in Mars thin air.
If true, this location could have been an excellent environment for life.
The only way to know with certainty was to take images from the surface of Mars.
This structure of boulders and sediment shows the geological history of the delta.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
Perseverancelandedover a mile (roughly 2 kilometers) away from the cliffs at the front of the delta.
During the first few weeks of the mission, we used MastcamZ to survey the distant rocks.
Toward the top we spotted boulders, some as large as 5 feet (1.5 meters) across.
For a long time potentially millions of years a river flowed into a lake that filled Jezero Crater.
This river slowly deposited the tilted layers of sediment we see in the cliffs of the delta.
Later on, the river became mostly dry except for a few big flooding events.
Since then, the climate has been arid and winds have slowly been eroding away the rock.
Confirming that there was a lake in Jezero Crater is the first major science result of the mission.
