Scientists are hopeful that they will be able to find signs of ancient life once the samples are returned to Earth. So far on its current campaign in the Jezero Crater, the rover has collected four rock-core samples. During its first campaign, it explored the crater's floor, revealing igneous rock which forms deep underground from magma, or during times of volcanic activity at the planet's surface. During this trip, Perseverance is taking a closer look at the delta's sedimentary rocks. It is host to a delta, an ancient fan-shaped feature that formed about 3.5 billion years ago at the convergence of a Martian river and a lake, according to NASA. The area that Perseverance is currently investigating, is the twenty-eight mile (45 kilometer) wide Jezero Crater. "These first two science campaigns have yielded an amazing diversity of samples to bring back to Earth by the Mars Sample Return Campaign." "We picked the Jezero Crater for Perseverance to explore because we thought it had the best chance of providing scientifically excellent samples - and now we know we sent the rover to the right location," remarked Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's Associate Administrator for Science in Washington. Since arriving, the rover has been collecting rock-core samples and capturing highly detailed imagery. The journey took Perseverance to the "doorstep of Jezero Crater's ancient river delta" on April 13. Perseverance is in its second science campaign, following a 31-Martian-day (or sol) dash across approximately 3 miles (5 kilometers) of Mars. The rover has also been taking some extraordinary pictures along the way. NASA's Mars Perseverance rover has been busy collecting rock-core samples in an area thought by scientists to be ideal for finding ancient signs of microbial life on Mars.
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