Intriguing Mars Rock: Perseverance Project Scientist’s Conference Talk on Mars Sample Return

A key objective of Perseverance rover’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including caching samples that may contain signs of ancient microbial life. This talk was presented at the 10th International Conference on Mars at Caltech in Pasadena, California, on July 25, 2024, to a gathering of Mars scientists from a range of disciplines, institutions, and countries. Ken Farley, project scientist for NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover mission, shared information about a new discovery that is “the most puzzling, complex, and potentially important rock yet investigated by Perseverance.” Mars Sample Return, a joint campaign being planned by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency), would entail multiple missions and components, with the goal of bringing Mars rock, loose surface material, and gas samples to Earth for detailed laboratory analysis.