Perseverance rover plans to collect first rock samples to be returned to Earth from Mars

​By a staff reporter :

After its unsuccessful attempt to collect the first rock samples to be returned to Earth, the Perseverance Mars rover is in the final stages of another attempt to drill a rock. The SUV-sized rover will scrape the surface of a rock nicknamed “Rochette,” allowing scientists to look inside and determine whether they want to capture a sample from it or not.

The rover is trundling in the Jazero crater on Mars in search of signs of the first ancient microbial life beyond Earth.