NASA Shows Off 'First Letter to Be Laser-Engraved on Mars'

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Today's show is brought to you by the letter L.

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This story is part of Welcome to Mars, our series exploring the red planet.

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Details count when discussing Martian rock. NASA wants to investigate the microscopic rock samples that the Perseverance rover has collected.

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That necessitates keeping track of both the samples' initial orientation in the host rock as well as their origin in the Jezero Crater

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The rover is performing some physical graffiti on the red planet in order to accomplish that.

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In June, Perseverance zapped three L-shaped dots into a rock using a laser that is a component of its mast-mounted SuperCam sensor.

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But it's not just random graffiti. There is a strong scientific justification.

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In a mission update on Thursday that delves into depth on why the rover accomplished this, Roger Wiens,

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the lead investigator for the SuperCam camera, referred to the L as "the first letter to be laser-engraved on Mars."

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