The Perseverance rover has been exploring Mars for over a year now, and in that time it has collected six different rock cores. But these cores did not come easy, and Mars has thrown more than a couple curveballs at the rover operations team during this time. JPL's Avi Okon joins Jake to talk about these challenges, and how the sample caching system has performed throughout the first year.We talk Perseverance, Drills, and Rock SamplesFirst sample attempt fails (August)More on attempt 1Assessing sample attempt 7 (January)Rotating the bit to eject broken sampleEjecting last of the broken sampleResolution of debrisMore on how the coring bit holds a sample inDiagram of Sampling and Caching SubsystemFollow Avi and PerseverancePerseverance's WebsiteSample Caching System SiteFollow Jake & WeMartiansWeMartians.comPatreon (https://www.wemartians.com/support)WeMartians Shop (shop.wemartians.com)Mailing List (https://wemartians.com/signup)Twitter (@we_martians)Jake’s Twitter (@JakeOnOrbit)Off-Nominal PodcastMarsti.meMarsti.meLearn about time on Mars! See live mission clocks, learn about sols and Mars years and solar longitude, and discover your Martian birthday! Visit Marsti.me, a new site from Jake.Dare Mighty Things DesignCelebrate Perseverance's landing anniversary with the Dare Mighty Things design at the WeMartians shop today! You can get it in a t-shirt or on a coffee mug.