The beginning of the first scavenger hunt...on Mars📍⁣ ⁣ In the coming days, our Perseverance rover is expected to begin building the first sample depot on another world. This will mark a crucial milestone in the NASA-EuropeanSpaceAgency Mars Sample Return campaign, which aims to bring Mars samples to Earth for closer study.⁣ ⁣ A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including storing samples that may contain signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.⁣ ⁣ The depot-building process starts when the rover drops one of its titanium sample tubes carrying a chalk-size core of rock from its belly 2.9 feet (88.8 centimeters) onto the ground at an area within Jezero Crater nicknamed “Three Forks.” Over the course of 30 or so days, Perseverance will deposit a total of 10 tubes that carry...