The size of a NASA car Perseverance Rover does a difficult job.
THE space the agency's robot faces steep and slippery terrain as it climbs the wall of Mars. Jezero Craterthe site of water that once flowed vigorously. THE March The rover is heading to other sites that could reveal whether the Red Planet ever hosted microbial life. He took advantage of the elevation to capture stunning views on his 3.5 year journey.
“The image not only shows our past and present, but also shows the biggest challenge in getting to where we want to be in the future,” Rick Welch, deputy project manager of Perseverance, said in a statement. “If you look at the right side of the mosaic, you start to get an idea of what we're dealing with. Mars didn't want to make it easy for anyone to reach the top of that ridge.”
Crushable speed of light
The mosaic below shows dozens of sites of exploration significance (as well as other Martian landmarks) like Perseverance and its six metal tires. rumbled through the Martian desert – a place now 1,000 times drier as the driest desert on the planet. The labels can be difficult to read, so the wide view is followed by two close-ups: an area showing where NASA's experimental and record-breaking experiments Ingenuity Helicopter crashed, and the region where the rover landed spectacularly in 2021.
An annotated image of the Perseverance rover showing important points of the robot's journey through Jezero Crater.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
Center right, the label “Ingenuity” shows where the small robotic helicopter rests in the desert after 72 successful flights.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
In the center, the location of the Perseverance rover landing site in 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
During its journey through Jezero Crater this year, the rover discovered a curious leopard-spotted rock that has sparked deep scientific interest. The unique white spots may have been created by microbial organisms. “The rock exhibits chemical signatures and structures that could have been formed by life billions of years ago, when the area explored by the rover contained flowing water,” NASA said in a statement. statement. But above all, much more in-depth research, over many years, is needed to confirm this possibility. The sample collected by the rover must be brought back to Earth — a very complex and expensive process Sample return to Mars mission that the agency is currently evaluating.
The tweet may have been deleted
Climbing back up to the crater rim proved daunting. The sand is loose and the heavy rover is sliding. “For every two steps forward that Perseverance took, we took at least one step back,” explained Camden Miller, the rover's remote pilot. The team tried to ride backwards on steep terrain and wound their way up the slope, making “switchbacks” like hikers ascending a mountain.
Once the rover completes its ascent, it will discover more sites that may hold clues to Mars' past climate and habitability. In the future, Mars missions will also explore the planet's subsoil in search of signs of life: Life may have been teemingor even currently abound, in underground areas protected from the vagaries of the planet. extreme radiation and cold.
