Perseverance Begins New Science Campaign with First Mars Sample Collection

NASA's Perseverance rover has collected the first sample of the mission's newest science campaign, exploring the top of Jezero Crater's delta. The rover has collected a total of 19 samples and three witness tubes, and it recently deposited 10 tubes as a backup cache on the Martian surface as part of the NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return campaign. Scientists want to study Martian samples with powerful lab equipment on Earth to search for signs of ancient microbial life and to better understand the water cycle that has shaped the surface and interior of Mars.