Nasa shares first recording of Perseverance firing its laser on Mars

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Nasa on Wednesday shared the first recording of the Perseverance rover firing off its high powered laser on Mars by deploying its rock-zapping SuperCam instrument. “It will help find the most relevant sample for collection and it is going to document comprehensively their geological setting.” In the media briefing, Mr Wiens said that the SuperCam fired the laser on a target named Maaz, which means Mars in the Navajo language spoken by the native Americans. “Raman spectroscopy is going to play a crucial role in characterising minerals to gain deeper insight into the geological conditions under which they formed and to detect potential organic and mineral molecules that might have been formed by living organisms.” SuperCam’s chemical analysis revealed that the target Maaz is basaltic in composition, shared Mr Weins. “Basalt is also common on Mars.” But the scientists do not know at the moment if the rock is igneous, meaning formed from the cooling and solidification of volcanic lava, said Mr Weins.