'I've Got It': NASA Confirms Perseverance Mars Rover Retrieves First Rock Sample

WASHINGTON - NASA confirmed Monday that its Perseverance Mars rover succeeded in collecting its first rock sample for scientists to pore over when a future mission eventually brings it back to Earth. 

"I've got it!" the space agency tweeted, alongside a photograph of a rock core slightly thicker than a pencil inside a sample tube.   The sample was collected on September 1, but NASA was initially unsure whether the rover had successfully held onto its precious cargo, because initial images taken in poor light were unclear.  After taking a new photo so mission control could verify its contents, Perseverance transferred the tube to the rover's interior for further measurements and imaging, then hermetically sealed the container.