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NASA Thinks Mars Rover Succeeded in Taking Rock Sample

Nasa's Perseverance rover may have managed to scoop a Martian rock sample after its previous attempt crumbled the rock. — NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS via AP
Nasa's Perseverance rover may have managed to scoop a Martian rock sample after its previous attempt crumbled the rock. — NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS via AP
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NASA Thinks Mars Rover Succeeded in Taking Rock Sample

Nasa's Perseverance rover may have managed to scoop a Martian rock sample after its previous attempt crumbled the rock. — NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS via AP
Nasa's Perseverance rover may have managed to scoop a Martian rock sample after its previous attempt crumbled the rock. — NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS via AP

NASA's Perseverance rover succeeded in its second attempt to scoop up a piece of Martian rock for future analysis by scientists on Earth -- probably.

Its first effort earlier this month failed after the rock was too crumbly to withstand the robot's drill, but data received late on September 1 indicates the process worked this time around, said AFP.

The US space agency said Thursday it remains a little uncertain, because images taken after the rover's arm completed sample acquisition were inconclusive due to poor sunlight conditions.

More images taken under better lighting are expected back by Saturday.

"The team determined a location, and selected and cored a viable and scientifically valuable rock," Jennifer Trosper, project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said in a statement.

"We will work through this small hiccup with the lighting conditions in the images and remain encouraged that there is sample in this tube."

The target was a briefcase-sized rock nicknamed "Rochette" from a ridgeline that is half a mile (900 meters) long. 

Perseverance, NASA's latest Mars rover, landed on the planet's Jezero crater -- the site on an ancient lake -- in February on a mission to search for signs of ancient microbial life. 

Its turret-mounted scientific instruments are able to determine chemical and mineral composition and look for organic matter, as well as better characterize the planet's geological processes.

It uses a drill and a hollow coring bit at the end of its 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm to extract samples slightly thicker than a pencil, which it stores under its belly.

NASA plans a mission to bring around 30 samples back to Earth in the 2030s, where scientists will be able to conduct more detailed analysis that might confirm there was microbial life.

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Archaeologists in Virginia Unearth Colonial-era Garden with Clues about Enslaved Gardeners

Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists continue their excavation of an 18th Century ornamental garden on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Williamsburg, Va. (AP Photo/John C. Clark)
Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists continue their excavation of an 18th Century ornamental garden on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Williamsburg, Va. (AP Photo/John C. Clark)
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Archaeologists in Virginia Unearth Colonial-era Garden with Clues about Enslaved Gardeners

Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists continue their excavation of an 18th Century ornamental garden on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Williamsburg, Va. (AP Photo/John C. Clark)
Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists continue their excavation of an 18th Century ornamental garden on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Williamsburg, Va. (AP Photo/John C. Clark)

Archaeologists in Virginia are uncovering one of colonial America's most lavish displays of opulence: An ornamental garden where a wealthy politician and enslaved gardeners grew exotic plants from around the world.

Such plots of land dotted Britain’s colonies and served as status symbols for the elite. They were the 18th-century equivalent of buying a Lamborghini.

The garden in Williamsburg belonged to John Custis IV, a tobacco plantation owner who served in Virginia's colonial legislature. He is perhaps best known as the first father-in-law of Martha Washington. She married future US President George Washington after Custis’ son Daniel died.

Historians also have been intrigued by the elder Custis’ botanical adventures, which were well-documented in letters and later in books. And yet this excavation is as much about the people who cultivated the land as it is about Custis, The AP reported.

“The garden may have been Custis’ vision, but he wasn’t the one doing the work,” said Jack Gary, executive director of archaeology at Colonial Williamsburg, a living history museum that now owns the property. “Everything we see in the ground that’s related to the garden is the work of enslaved gardeners, many of whom must have been very skilled.”

Archaeologists have pulled up fence posts that were 3 feet (1 meter) thick and carved from red cedar. Gravel paths were uncovered, including a large central walkway. Stains in the soil show where plants grew in rows.

The dig also has unearthed a pierced coin that was typically worn as a good-luck charm by young African Americans. Another find is the shards of an earthenware chamber pot, which was a portable toilet, that likely was used by people who were enslaved.

Animals appear to have been intentionally buried under some fence posts. They included two chickens with their heads removed, as well as a single cow’s foot. A snake without a skull was found in a shallow hole that had likely contained a plant.

“We have to wonder if we’re seeing traditions that are non-European,” Gary said. “Are they West African traditions? We need to do more research. But it’s features like those that make us continue to try and understand the enslaved people who were in this space.”

The museum tells the story of Virginia’s colonial capital through interpreters and restored buildings on 300 acres (120 hectares), which include parts of the original city. Founded in 1926, the museum did not start telling stories about Black Americans until 1979, even though more than half of the 2,000 people who lived there were Black, the majority enslaved.

In recent years, the museum has boosted efforts to tell a more complete story, while trying to attract more Black visitors. It plans to reconstruct one of the nation’s oldest Black churches and is restoring what is believed to be the country’s oldest surviving schoolhouse for Black children.

There also are plans to recreate Custis’ Williamsburg home and garden, known then as Custis Square. Unlike some historic gardens, the restoration will be done without the benefit of surviving maps or diagrams, relying instead on what Gary described as the most detailed landscape archaeology effort in the museum's history.

The garden disappeared after Custis' death in 1749. But the dig has determined it was about two-thirds the size of a football field, while descriptions from the time reference lead statues of Greek gods and topiaries trimmed into balls and pyramids.