NASA Perseverance rover drills ancient rock sample on Mars surface

NASA's uncrewed Perseverance rover collected a new rock sample named Singita on Mars on Oct. 24, 2026. The Planetary Society reported that this was the rover's first sample collection in over a year. The sample may be more than 3.9 billion years old, making it roughly as ancient as the oldest preserved rocks on Earth. [1]

The sample was drilled from a rock that was likely buried about one kilometer deep in the Martian crust. According to project scientist Katie Stack Morgan at the American Astronomical Society's Division of Planetary Sciences conference, an impact later threw the rock to the surface. She noted that it could be among the oldest rocks exposed on Mars. [1]

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is a desert-like rocky planet with a thin atmosphere composed primarily of carbon dioxide. The surface gravity on Mars is roughly one-third of that on Earth. [5]