Meet the Mars Samples: Hazeltop and Bearwallow (Samples 12 and 13)

Meet two of the Martian samples that have been collected and are awaiting return to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign. As of June 2023, NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover has collected and sealed 19 scientifically selected samples inside pristine tubes. The next stage is to get them back for study.

Considered one of the highest priorities by the scientists in the Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032, Mars Sample Return would be the first mission to return samples from another planet and provides the best opportunity to reveal the early evolution of Mars, including the potential for ancient life. NASA is teaming with ESA (European Space Agency) on this important endeavor.

Learn more about Samples No. 12 and 13 – “Hazeltop” and “Bearwallow” – a pair of rock cores from a fine-grained sedimentary rock that scientists believe could have good characteristics for preserving signs of ancient microbes, if they were ever present.

Read about all the carefully selected samples: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-rock-samples

Learn more about the Mars Sample Return campaign: https://mars.nasa.gov/msr

Objectives for Perseverance's mission on Mars include astrobiology and the search for 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, as well as be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

TRANSCRIPT

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MARS ROCK SAMPLES

SAMPLE 12 & 13: HAZELTOP & BEARWALLOW

TYPE: SEDIMENTARY

LOCATION: WILDCAT RIDGE, DELTA FRONT

RACHEL KRONYAK
SCIENCE OPERATIONS - MARS PERSEVERANCE ROVER

Rachel Kronyak: Sample No. 12 is called “Hazeltop.” Sample No. 13 is called “Bearwallow.” This was a pair of samples collected from the “Wildcat Ridge” outcrop at the delta front.

This sample pair represents a fine-grained mudstone. It's a really fine-grained sedimentary rock that was deposited in an ancient lake. Because of the fine grain size of this rock, we think it has a higher potential to preserve signs of ancient life.

Hazeltop was my favorite because if you look at images, looking inside the sample tube from the core sample, you can actually see a little mineral vein in the rock. The rocks will fracture and then water will pass through them and leave behind mineral veins in the rocks.

And so you can actually see evidence of a small, little mineral vein which is really neat. We also think that we cored into a concretion, which is direct evidence of ancient interaction with water on Mars.

Hazeltop is actually a little bit smaller than Bearwallow.

But because of the potential for the concretions and the vein in the Hazeltop sample, we decided to keep that one onboard and instead we dropped the Bearwallow sample in the Three Forks sample depot.

It's got a lot of good stuff in there and I'm really excited about that sample.

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For more information on Mars Rock Samples: mars.nasa.gov/mars-rock-samples