Perseverance captures a rock core inside a titanium tube, transfers the tube into the rover for inspection and sealing, then stores it onboard or places it at a mapped surface depot. NASA’s goal is to retrieve selected samples and bring them to Earth for laboratory study, but the return mission’s final design and schedule are not settled by the announcements cited here.
How Perseverance collects a rock core
Perseverance’s rotary-percussive drill sits at the end of its large robotic arm. For rock sampling, it uses a hollow coring bit that cuts a cylindrical core and captures it inside a titanium sample tube. NASA gives the drilled hole’s diameter as 27 millimeters; that measurement is not the core’s length. The rover also carries other interchangeable bits for collecting regolith or abrading rock surfaces. NASA’s Perseverance rover components
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The intended sample is therefore not simply a chip left beside the hole: the core is held within the tube so the rover can transfer and preserve it. Not every attempt necessarily produces a usable core; NASA documented an early sampling attempt that did not leave a sample in the tube. NASA’s account of the first sampling attempt
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How the filled tube is inspected and sealed
- Transfer into the rover: After coring, the drill docks with the bit carousel. The carousel moves the filled bit and tube into position for Perseverance’s internal sample-handling arm to grasp and withdraw the tube. NASA/JPL’s description of the sample-gathering system
- Check the sample: The arm takes the tube through imaging and assessment steps. A ramrod enters the tube to gauge the sample’s volume; additional imaging helps document the sample and the handling process.
- Prepare and verify the closure: The system handles a plug-like seal before a cap is placed and hermetically fixed to the titanium tube. The CacheCam looks into the tube and takes images, including during preparation for sealing. NASA describes the sealed tube as closed against material entering or leaving. NASA’s images and explanation of Perseverance’s first sample seal
- Return the tube to storage: The internal arm returns the sealed tube to storage in the rover’s belly, where it can remain until mission operators choose whether and where to deposit it. NASA’s Perseverance rover components
How the rover checks for contamination
Perseverance carries witness tubes as well as tubes meant to contain samples. Witness tubes hold materials that can capture molecules and particles associated with the spacecraft or its surroundings. Scientists can later analyze them to help assess whether Earth-originating contamination could affect interpretation of the samples. This is a quality-control check, not a guarantee that contamination is impossible. NASA’s Perseverance rover components NASA/JPL’s report on the completed sample depot
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When a sample tube is left on Mars
A sealed tube does not automatically leave the rover. Perseverance can keep it onboard or place it on the surface for possible future retrieval. NASA/JPL reported the first surface deposit on December 21, 2022. For that operation, the rover took a final CacheCam image, released the tube from about 89 centimeters (roughly 3 feet) above the selected spot, and used an arm-mounted camera to check that it had not rolled into a wheel path. The operation took nearly an hour. NASA/JPL’s report on the first surface deposit
On January 28, 2023, Perseverance completed its first sample depot at Three Forks. NASA/JPL reported 10 tubes there, including rock samples, an atmospheric sample and a witness tube. The tubes were arranged in a zigzag, about 5 to 15 meters apart, and their locations were precisely mapped to help a future mission find them. Those figures describe the reported Three Forks depot, not the total number of tubes the rover may hold or collect. NASA/JPL’s report on the completed depot
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What happens after the samples are cached?
NASA’s Mars Sample Return goal is to retrieve selected samples, launch a container from Mars and bring the material to Earth for detailed laboratory study and preservation. Perseverance’s collection and caching are the first part of that proposed sequence, not the return itself. NASA’s Mars Sample Return science overview
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Onboard storage and surface depots
These are two possible locations for sealed tubes, not two different kinds of sample. Their practical difference is where a future retrieval effort would have to find them.
| Storage location | What happens to the tube | Retrieval implication |
|---|---|---|
| Onboard the rover | The sealed tube stays in Perseverance’s belly. | The rover or a future lander would need to access the tube. |
| Surface depot | The rover places the sealed tube at a selected, mapped location. Three Forks is a reported example. | A future mission could search for the tube at its mapped surface location. |
NASA’s 2024 update described two landing options under study for the return campaign; it did not establish which approach would be selected. NASA’s January 2024 program update
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