of mars. these are the most valuable rock samples that could ever have been collected. the rover, 18 months for us here on earth with a tantalizing haul. so far, collecting a dozen drilled rock samples that may reveal if there was life on earth s next door neighbor, including these two which scientists are most excited about. it feels like we re in the right place with the right tools, and mars sample answers a better profound question, are we alone in the universe. these come from a rock formation when a lake evaporated, but the road to earth is long and challenging. a rocket will have to blast off from mars to bring the samples back and that may not happen until 2033. all of this is part of a nasa effort to send humans to mars.
day be canada s king. the queen has made a surprise visit to paddington station in london to see the newly completed elizabeth line. the 96 year old monarch wasjoined by her youngest son, the earl of wessex, for the official opening this morning. the delayed crossrail project will open to the public next tuesday. nasa s perseverance mars rover, or percy as it s become known, is about to begin the most important part of its mission. after travelling seven miles since it landed on the red planet over a year ago, it s just arrived at an area that was once a river delta, which scientists have identified as one of the most likely places to find microscopic signs of ancient life. over the next six months, the rover will collect rock samples which could answer the question was there life on mars, as our science editor rebecca morelle reports. the parachute has deployed and we are seeing significant deceleration. it s a mission that began with a jaw dropping descent, beaming back real footage
nasa s perseverance mars rover, or percy as its become known, is about to begin the most important part of its mission. after travelling seven miles since it landed on the red planet over a year ago, it s just arrived at an area that was once a river delta, which scientists have identified as one of the most likely places to find microscopic signs of ancient life. over the next six months the rover will collect rock samples which could answer the question, was there life on mars? 0ur science editor rebecca morelle reports. the parachute has deployed and we are seeing significant deceleration. it s a mission that began with a jaw dropping descent, beaming back real footage of a mars landing, as nasa s perseverance rover was lowered onto the martian surface. over the last year, it s revealed the planet as never seen before taking some selfies along the way. it s been busy trundling across the dusty terrain.
let s ask cnn space and defense correspondent kristin fisher. any major discoveries? the biggest thing that this rover has done, it has collected the first rock samples from another planet and this is of course so important because scientists are hoping that some day a future mission will be able to return those rock samples back to earth and then those scientists could of course search for perhaps signs of a very ancient line, perhaps microbial life in marz. it had a little bit of trouble but it collected six rock samples and holding them until the point when a future rover can come and then return it back to earth. the other thing that is the ingenuity helicopter, when this rover helped bring to the red planet, this was kind of an after thought. it wasn t even supposed to be in the original mission. and now it is has proven to be massively successful. it has done 19 successful