NASA blames Mars rover sampling fiasco on bad, powdery rock

By MARCIA DUNN
AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is blaming unusually soft rock for last week’s sampling fiasco on Mars. The Perseverance rover came up empty after attempting to collect its first core sample on the red planet. Data beamed back last Friday showed that the rover drilled to the proper depth of nearly 3 inches, and pictures of the borehole looked good. But it quickly became clear the sample tube was empty. Since then, engineers have determined the equipment worked fine, but the rock was not strong enough to produce a core sample. So the rover is moving on to the next sampling site.