NASA succeeded in collecting its first rock sample with the help of the perseverance Mars rover. The US space agency shares photos of a rock core sharing the thickness of a pencil in a sample tube. Declaring it as a one-of-a-kind mission,  NASA captured, sealed, and stored the first-ever core sample in a quest to return samples to the earth. 

The perseverance rovers chief engineer, Adam Steltzner, labeled it as the historic moment. Some time back perseverance drilled into much softer rock but the sample did not make it to the last and get inside the titanium tube. The rover drove a half-mile to a better sampling spot to try again. Further, data and pictures were examined before declaring it as NASAÂs triumph. On September 1, the Mars rover finally collects its first rock core giving rise to scientistÂs hopes. Engineers paused the process to capture the core in its sample tube making sure of its successful journey. The sample was then stored in an airtight container to check the validity of the sample components. 

In a speech, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson remarked, ÂThis is a momentous achievement and I canÂt wait to see the incredible discoveries produced by Perseverance and our team.Â

Perseverance reached in February at Mars Jezero Crater. The rover is tasked with cumulating more than two dozen samples in the coming year. Moreover, NASA is planning to launch more spacecraft to reclaim the samples that were gathered by Perseverance; engineers are putting out their best efforts in order to return as many as three dozen samples in a decade. 

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