NASA said that the Perseverance rover’s mission, which was assigned to it after it landed on Mars in February 2021, was finished. The robot’s primary mission was to investigate the deserted Jezero Crater Lake and gather rocks that might be useful in their search for traces of past life.
After a thousand Martian days, the mission team declared at a major presentation in San Francisco that the rover had accomplished its main goal.
Remaining parts of an ancient lake that once filled Jezero Crater billions of years ago can be found in the ancient river delta, where NASA’s Perseverance rover has finished its study. On the Red Planet, the rover is commemorating its 1,000th Martian day. According to a NASA news release, the six-wheeled scientist has reportedly collected 23 samples so far and has likely learned more about the geologic past of this area of Mars in the process.
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“We’ve done an amazing amount of science, and it’s a pretty incredible achievement,” NASA’s director of planetary science, Dr. Lori Glaze, said. However, Perseverance did not “switch off the engine” and put herself in park after the mission was completed.
One of the numerous tasks left facing the scientists is figuring out how to get the rock samples from the spaceship back to Earth for further analysis in a lab.
We decided to land near the Jezero Crater because satellite images showed a distinct delta, suggesting that a large lake had formerly filled the crater. Caltech scientist Ken Farley said, “A lake is a potentially habitable environment, and delta rocks are a great environment for entombing signs of ancient life as fossils in the geologic record.” He said, “We’ve pieced together the crater’s geologic history after extensive exploration, mapping its lake and river phases from beginning to end.”
NASA study on the Jezero Crater
A review board is anticipated to report at the start of 2019 after assessing the project’s technical solutions, financial plan, and schedule in the Jezero Crater region. Nevertheless, this project will involve collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency.
In order to accomplish this, a rocket containing the finger-sized samples needs to be launched to Mars and then placed into orbit for the return journey.
Dr. Mini Wadhwa of Arizona State University, the chief scientist for NASA’s Mars Sample Return Mission, asserts that “it will be one of the most audacious robotic missions ever conducted.”
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