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This animation shows NASA's Perseverance Mars rover collecting a sample from a rock the science team calls "Bunsen Peak" using a coring bit on the end of its robotic arm. It was the 21st rock core collected by Perseverance, and the 24th sample overall for the mission. The sample was collected on March 12, 2024, the 1,088th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

The 33 images that make up this animation were taken by one of the rover's front hazard cameras. The animation has been sped up by 390 times.

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, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

For more about Perseverance: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/