The contrast of the two "provides us with a rich understanding of the geologic history after the crater formed and a diverse sample suite," Farley said in a news release.įor example, the project scientist pointed to one collected mudstone that contains "intriguing organic compounds." The rover previously explored Jezero Crater's floor, finding igneous rocks. Perseverance is currently studying the delta's sedimentary rocks. Since July 7 of this year, NASA says, the rover has collected four samples from the delta-bringing the total number of collected, "scientifically compelling rock samples" to 12. Perseverance launched in July 2020, and made its February 2021 landing in Jezero Crater. Instead, we are looking into the very distant past, when Mars' climate was very different than it is today," Farley added. "I want to emphasize, this mission is not looking for extant life, things that are alive today. it allows us to explore an ancient habitable environment (and) it allows us to seek evidence of possible, Martin life in rocks deposited at that time, about 3 and-a-half billion years ago," Perseverance project scientist Ken Farley said in a recorded panel about the rover's findings. "Jezero was selected for this mission because. Conceivably, microbial life could have survived in Jezero during this wetter period and so the car-sized rover is collecting soil samples to return to Earth that scientists can assess for signs of ancient life.According to NASA, several rock samples containing organic matter were found in Jezero Crater, a 28-mile wide crater home to what scientists believe was once a river delta that formed about 3.5 billion years ago. Scientists believe that more than 3.5bn years ago, the area was flooded with water and was home to an ancient river delta. “These ‘fly off into the sunset’ from the landing site and ultimately crash, but the contamination risk is very low.”Īvoiding contamination is crucial for missions like Perseverance, which is hunting for signs of ancient life in Mars’ Jezero crater. “As it is so difficult to land on Mars because of the thin atmosphere, landers always have associated landing system hardware which also lands on the surface – parachutes, back shells, and landing systems – like the sky crane for Perseverance and Curiosity, airbags and retro rocket systems for earlier missions,” he added. However, in the case of the Perseverance litter, Prof Andrew Coates, a space scientist at UCL’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory, said: “The good news is that everything is sterilised before it goes to Mars, and the space radiation environment helps during the nine-month trip to Mars as does the harsh surface environment.” The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 created an obligation under international law to avoid the harmful contamination of outer space, the moon and other celestial bodies, but some argue that the law is not detailed enough to ensure protection. The image has reignited concerns that space exploration risks contaminating the pristine Martian and lunar environments. Did this piece land here after that, or was it blown here by the wind?” It’s a surprise finding this here: My descent stage crashed about 2 km away. “That shiny bit of foil is part of a thermal blanket – a material used to control temperatures. “My team has spotted something unexpected: It’s a piece of a thermal blanket that they think may have come from my descent stage, the rocket-powered jet pack that set me down on landing day back in 2021,” the Perseverance Twitter account reported.
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