Intern Liu Hang, surging news reporter Sun Yizhen
NASA released news on June 10 that the "Perseverance" rover is traveling to the south to explore the lake bed of Jezero Crater, officially opening the first scientific expedition on Mars.
A 360-degree panorama taken by Perseverance's Mastcam-Z system
3.9 billion years ago, Jezero Crater was an ancient lake, and if life had ever existed on Mars, there could have been evidence of ancient microbial life there. The scientific goal of Perseverance's mission is to study the Jezero region, understand its geology and past habitability, and look for signs of ancient microbes.
In the early weeks of the expedition, the project team will send Perseverance to a low-lying open area where some of the oldest geological features of Jezero Crater can be surveyed. At the same time, they will launch the "Perseverance" automatic navigation and sampling system functions.
Jennifer Trosper, project manager for Perseverance, said that in the next few months, Perseverance will explore 4 square kilometers of land to collect the first samples on Mars.
The project team will identify, collect the most compelling samples of rocks and sediments, and then store them on the surface of Mars using storage tubes for retrieval on future missions and bring them to Earth for more detailed study.
Perseverance will also conduct measurements and technical tests to support future human and robotic exploration of Mars.
For the first few hundred Days of Mars, Perseverance explores two unique geological units where Jezero's deepest and oldest bare bedrock layers and other interesting geological features can be found.
The first geological unit was a cratered ground known as the Crater Floor Fractured Rough. The adjacent unit, named "Séítah" (meaning "in the sand" in Navajo), resembles a glove and contains a considerable part of the Martian bedrock, as well as ridges, layered rocks, and dunes.
"In order to treat the two units fairly in the allotted time, the team of scientists came up with a 'Mars version' of the old automotive club-style map." Kevin Hand and Vivian Sun, co-leaders of the scientific campaign, said, "We have planned the route, including optional forks, and marked interesting areas as well as potential obstacles on the road. ”
Perseverance's course of action
The main obstacle along the way is the sand dunes of Séítah, so the team of scientists decided that perseverance would either drive in the "rough part of the crater fracture" or along its boundary line with Séítah. If a special area of interest appears, perseverance will enter Séítah.
The goal of the expedition was to identify the four locations in the geological unit that best tell the story of the early environmental and geological history of Jezero Crater. When the team of scientists determined the most suitable location, they took one or two samples.
"Starting with the 'Rough Fracture of the Crater' and Séítah, let's begin our exploration of Jezero Crater." "3.8 billion years ago, this area was more than 100 meters deep. While we don't know what rocks and layered outcrops can tell us right now, we're excited to start exploring. ”
This scientific activity will end after Perseverance returns to its landing site. At that time, it will travel 2.5 to 5 kilometers and carry 8 sample tubes filled with Martian rock and weathering layers (broken rock and dust).
Thereafter, Perseverance will travel north and then west to the Jezero Delta region, the site of the second scientific expedition, which was deposited by an ancient river into the lake and was an important factor in attracting Perseverance to jezero Crater. The region may be rich in carbonates, which on Earth are fossil remains that preserve ancient life and are associated with biological action.
Perseverance successfully landed on Mars on February 18, and its mission goals include looking for signs of life that may have existed in the ancient times of Mars, exploring the geological and climatic characteristics of Mars, and accumulating technology for future robots and humans to explore Mars.
Until June 1, Perseverance was conducting system tests and commissioning, such as the TEST of the MOXIE oxygen generator, and supporting the flight tests of the Witty helicopter, including as its communication base station and recording its flight history. During this time, Perseverance also took more than 75,000 images and recorded sounds on Mars for the first time.
Editor-in-Charge: Li Yuequn
Proofreader: Zhang Liangliang