NASA Mars Perseverance Rover: Almost on the Rove Again

NASA Mars Perseverance Rover Driving

Anomation of the Perseverance Rover driving on Mars. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Science as Perseverance dislodges pebbles and prepares to head back north.

We’ll soon be on the move again after shaking loose some pesky pebbles that became lodged in Perseverance’s bit carousel. How has the science team been making the best use of our extended stay at the Issole parking space, and preparing for our next phase of science investigations?

As outlined previously, the team made good progress ejecting pebbles that became lodged in the interior of Perseverance’s bit carousel, but two more stubborn ones remained on the outside. The rover recently completed a little “bump” of 3 meters and: success! The two remaining pebbles shook loose. Perseverance then repositioned itself again at the Issole outcrop to re-take what will be our second sample of a pair at this location (third time’s the charm!) before driving back north again.

Mars Perseverance Sol 328 SuperCam Camera

Mars Perseverance Sol 328 – SuperCam Camera: Long-distance SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) image of the delta taken from our current location. The purpose of this image was to examine some of the top layers of the delta in more detail and to better understand the composition of the delta. This image was acquired on Jan. 21, 2022 (Sol 328) at the local mean solar time of 08:58:28. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP

In the meantime, the science team has been hard at work preparing for our next phase of science operations, which will take us towards the western delta. To prepare, the team has been taking long-distance observations of the delta and layers along Artuby ridge with both the Mastcam-Z and SuperCam instruments (e.g. a recent observation from the SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager is shown above). Our observations last week included Mastcam-Z stereo images of the western part of Artuby ridge that will allow us to create 3D models of the outcrop. We’ve also continued with atmospheric science, including data collection during a dust storm originating in Hellas that passed over the rover during sols 312-318 (~5th – 11th of January).

Looking forward, after we finish sampling at this location, Perseverance will move back to Artuby ridge where we’ll undertake proximity science at a location known as “Rimplas”. After that, the team is still deciding whether to reattempt a sample at Roubion, where our first sample disintegrated, and/or to take a sample of the “Chal” member rocks, which are massive, blocky rocks closer to our landing site. These decisions, as all decisions on a mission as complex and ambitious as ” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>Mars 2020, will be a tradeoff between sols (the martian days we’ll spend) and the expected science return. We’ll then begin a multi-km drive aimed at reaching the delta as soon as possible. Along the way, science observations may include investigations of the craters we pass throughout our journey to the delta. This could be particularly useful for understanding the sequence of events at Jezero crater, which may be revealed in exposures along the crater walls.

The team is starting to plan these observations now, because with Perseverance’s autonomous driving capabilities, we’ll be at the delta before we know it. The team is looking forward to being on the road (or on the rove) again!

Written by Eleni Ravanis, Student Collaborator at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Note: This article have been indexed to our site. We do not claim legitimacy, ownership or copyright of any of the content above. To see the article at original source Click Here

Related Posts
Sean Penn’s Ukraine documentary is available to stream for free right now on YouTube thumbnail

Sean Penn’s Ukraine documentary is available to stream for free right now on YouTube

Sean Penn’s new two-hour documentary Superpower, about the war in Ukraine and, in particular, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, is the result of two years’ worth of interviews between the two men. The resulting film, which was originally meant to focus on Ukraine’s improbable comedian-turned-president before the war broke out, is now available to stream for
Read More
Researchers dynamically tune friction in graphene thumbnail

Researchers dynamically tune friction in graphene

Fabrication and characterization of graphene FET devices used for tunable friction measurements. Credit: Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41375-7 The friction on a graphene surface can be dynamically tuned using external electric fields, according to researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign led by Professor Rosa Espinosa-Marzal of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The
Read More
Modular Chips With Nuclear Power for Space thumbnail

Modular Chips With Nuclear Power for Space

Home » Energy » Modular Chips With Nuclear Power for Space NASA NIAC (NASA Advanced Innovation Concepts) has 2022 grants. It is a bit confusing as some of the projects have been written about before. This makes sense for phase 2 projects but there is a phase 1 project that has previously had work. Nextbigfuture…
Read More
British Medical Association Appeal: Facebook Fails To Act Over Incompetent “Fact Check” of COVID-19 Vaccine Investigation thumbnail

British Medical Association Appeal: Facebook Fails To Act Over Incompetent “Fact Check” of COVID-19 Vaccine Investigation

The BMJ (a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the British Medical Association) has locked horns with Facebook and the gatekeepers of international fact-checking after one of its investigations was wrongly labeled with “missing context” and censored on the world’s largest social network. Published on November 2, 2021, the investigation reported poor clinical trial…
Read More
Index Of News
Total
0
Share