Meet the Mars Perseverance Rover's Samples: Roubion (Sample 1) | NASA/JPL

Meet the Mars Perseverance Rover's Samples: Roubion (Sample 1) | NASA/JPL

Meet a Martian sample that has been collected and is awaiting return to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign. As of June 2023, NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover has collected and sealed 19 scientifically selected samples inside pristine tubes. The next stage is to get them back for study.

Considered one of the highest priorities by the scientists in the Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032, Mars Sample Return would be the first mission to return samples from another planet and provides the best opportunity to reveal the early evolution of Mars, including the potential for ancient life. NASA is teaming with the European Space Agency (ESA) on this important endeavor.

Learn more about the rover’s first sample, “Roubion,” a planned rock core that unexpectedly became a sample of Mars atmosphere, highly valuable in its own right. 

Read about all the carefully selected samples: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-rock-samples

Learn more about the Mars Sample Return campaign: https://mars.nasa.gov/msr 

A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, as well as be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: June 21, 2023

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