Washington. NASA’s Perseverance rover has made history with its landing in Jezero Crater of Mars on February 18, 2021. At present, Mars and Earth are on opposite sides of the Sun and the two planets cannot come close to each other. The team of scientists is taking the first real break after working continuously for the last 216 days (Mars day) since the launch of the mission.
We are two members of the Perseverance team, and while the rover waits 20 days for the two planetary conjunctions, it is the perfect time to reflect on the achievements of the mission so far.
Perseverance has tested all its engineering capabilities, covered 1.6 miles (2.6 kilometers) over rough terrain and taken thousands of photos with its 19 cameras. Of all these incredible breakthroughs, there are three major milestones that we are particularly excited about: the first collecting samples from within the rock, flying the ‘Ingenuity’ helicopter and publishing our first scientific results about the Jezero Crater Delta. Doing.
send back the consignment
One of Perseverance’s primary objectives is to use its sample collection system to extract small rock cores and seal them in special sample tubes. A future mission will then pick them up and bring them back to Earth on a long interplanetary journey.
Our team collected rocks at a depth of 1800 feet that were hard and easy to sample. After collecting a few dozen more samples, Perseverance will drop the samples in a safe and accessible location on the surface of Mars. NASA’s Mars sample return mission, which is currently in development, will pick up the sample tubes and bring them back here by the end of this decade.
But scientists will not have to wait so long to know about the rocks. At both sites, Perseverance used a ‘Sherlock and Pixel Spectrometer’ on its arm to measure the composition of the rocks. We found crystalline minerals that indicate rocks formed in a basaltic lava flow, as well as salt minerals that may be evidence of ancient groundwater.
first in flight
Perseverance may be far from Earth, but it also has an ally. Shortly after landing on Mars, the Ingenuity helicopter separated from the rover and became the first spacecraft to fly into the atmosphere of another planet.
A closer look at Jezero Delta
NASA specifically selected Jezero Crater as the landing site for Perseverance because it gives the rover access to a large pile of rocks that lies at the end of a dry river valley. Based on satellite images, scientists think these rocks may have formed from sediment deposited by an ancient river that joined a lake about 3.5 billion years ago.
Confirming that there was a lake in Jezero Crater is the mission’s first major science result. In the coming year, Perseverance will reach the top of the delta, collecting many samples as well as studying the rock layers in fine detail along the way. When those samples are finally back on Earth, we’ll know if they contain signs of microbial life.
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