NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Sample Caching System

Watch as NASA-JPL engineers test the Sample Caching System on the Perseverance Mars rover. Described as one of the most complex robotic systems ever built, the Sample and Caching System will collect core samples from the rocky surface of Mars, seal them in tubes and leave them for a future mission to retrieve and bring back to Earth.

The team is on track to launch Perseverance in July 2020 and land in Mars’ Jezero Crater in February 2021. For more information on the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission, please go to:

Credit: NASA-JPL/Caltech

[citizenshipp]

0:57 “To drill into the rock on Mars, pull out intact core
samples, seal them hermetically, and to be all done autonomously by a robot
hanging off the end of a rover on the surface of Mars has been a challenge.”


1:13 “We’ve got actually 3 robots necessary to do the Sample
and Caching Sytem: our Big Robotic Arm out on the front of the rover
that takes our drill, pushes it against the surface, and allows us to take core
samples.


1:28 “Then we put that core sample in the Bit Carousel
- the second robot - that takes that from the Robot Arm and puts it down inside
our Adaptive Caching System. This is the part of the Sample and Caching
System inside the rover.”


1:43 “We’ve got a little tiny robot, a special robot arm
called the SHA (Sample Handling Arm). It takes the samples out of the
handling carousel and moves them through Volume-Assessment, Image-Taking,
and eventually, to Sealing, and replaces the cylinder containing the
sample in a storage spot, all on its own in a matter of a few hours. We have designs
on bringing them back in…a decade.”


2:08 “Mars has been at the fore of our consciousness about
the questions of life. Could life exist in one of our nearest neighbors? I
think we have a lot to learn - life or no life - about the evolution of our solar
system, about our planet, by looking in depth at rocks back from Mars.”

[mayasarassan]

All the best best NASA from India. It is more interesting.and we are waiting for the success. It will be the success of the whole world

[Margriter]

Incredible technology! I hope to work on a project like this some day.

[longboardfella]

Any thoughts on how those mechanical devices can survive dust storms and not get bound up with grit? That must be a tough thing too achieve?

[Eddie]

So, the samples are stored INSIDE the chassis of the rover, sealed OVER the hole they're placed in and LEFT, presumably until a time AFTER the whole rover ceases to function. OK, the return vehicle arrives. I HOPE there is a system capable of reaching UNDER the rover, BREAKING the seal, and REMOVING the samples from their storage space. I always believed the best and easiest way of caching samples would be on the ground, where there wouldn't be a need for all that articulated machinery and blind operation.

[TheHuesSciTech]

The tubes are super clean and free of organic material: but I'm curious, how are they sealed? I feel like it's tricky to guarantee a perfect seal with absolutely rigid ceramics, no grease or elastomers, etc.

[izzxix]

Why not if they analyzed the stone at space i mean the rover itself has a machine that analyzed the material of the stones, can saved up decades instead of send it back to the earth

[drraoulestradamdesq]

Clear for launch 🚀🇺🇸🎉🍾🥁🌎 one small step for man one long till for perseverance, for all humanity

[curry]

All those who disliked are people from Uranus

[vfvico]

Adam Stelzner is so inspiring as a communicator of the engineering that goes into making these difficult Mars missions work -- great to see him back!

[electonicworld]

It is the reverse process of CNC milling machine, and its tool change

[leonroby]

Io ci metterei sul rover , al posto di ruote, tre ruote a cingoli x ogni ruota normale

[coffyemmanuel]

I see a black scientist and I feel very proud ✊🏾

[PeterPilotVancouver]

So what I am hearing is that they have to think of all possible eventualities before they leave, with no room to adapt after launch. This is why humans needs to go. They can adapt to new environments quickly. Rover is nice but it’s time to send people. NASA is playing too safe and needs to take risk and go where no one has gone before.

[thetawave]

Look at that black guy in the thumbnail. That’s the janitor. I guess they needed more people for the photo

[coreytaylor]

you really dont get a scale for how complicated these rovers are until you see videos like this

[TheCiardellas]

Every aspect of the Mars 2020 mission is astonishing 🚀 God speed Perseverance!

[MaksymCzech]

So if successful, this would be the first time we get samples of soil / rock from Mars?

[EXplorer.]

That looks so fast in animation but actual working will take many hours to perform that arm motion.
But the Rover is very efficient in energy consumption 😎

[Junyo]

How come you expected the core-samples to stay inside a vertical container with the opening pointing down?

You might have asked a toddler and he'd have told you: "No, daddy, the sand falls out if you do that". 😅