NASA's Perseverance rover has started its second science campaign on Mars, collecting rock-core samples in an area long considered by scientists to be a top prospect for finding signs of ancient microbial life on the Red Planet.

According to the NASA, The rover has collected four samples from an ancient river delta in the Red Planet's Jezero Crater since July 7, bringing the total count of scientifically compelling rock samples to 12.

Subsequent NASA missions would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.