BLOGMARS PERSEVERANCE ROVER


Mars – or Arrakis?
HiRISE Spots Perseverance in 'South Séítah': The white dot in the centre is our beloved Perseverance rover, dwarfed by the large sand dunes in the Séítah region. This image was acquired on September 24th, 2021, by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona. Download image ›

Who hates deep sand traps more than golfers? 

Mars rover drivers (and probably Fremen too).

When your vehicle is well over 50 million kilometers away from the nearest tow company, getting your wheels stuck in sand can be a mission-critical problem. Such a predicament ended the Spirit rover’s mission in 2009.

Yet Perseverance is currently winding her way through the maze of towering sand dunes that characterize the Séítah region of Jezero crater (“Séítah” means "amidst the sand" in the Navajo language, a well-fitting name). A recent photo beamed back from the HiRISE camera (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the extent to which the nearby dunes dwarf the rover, which itself is the size of a small SUV.

What enticed the Science Team into this treacherous zone laden with sand traps? The answer lies in our observations. After Perseverance landed and turned her eyes (cameras) towards Séítah, the Science Team was treated to a compelling view of diversely layered rocks. We saw thin layers and thick layers, planar layers and tilted layers, featureless layers and layers with protrusions. These observations garnered excitement amongst us because we know, from studying Earth, that an outcrop of layered rocks serves as a geological time-line. Each layer records information about the environmental conditions present when the rock formed and changes in layer thicknesses or textural expressions indicates an environmental change. Further, by studying the directions that the layers tilted, we determined that the rocks of Séítah are likely the most ancient rocks exposed in all of Jezero crater. Séítah therefore represents the beginning of the accessible geologic record and offers a once-in-a-mission opportunity to explore the full breadth of landscape evolution.

However, from a distance, it is difficult to determine what that evolving landscape actually looked like. Numerous hypotheses have been proposed for the origin of the layered rocks in Séítah, including sedimentation in an ancient lake or river with varying flow energy, airfall of volcanic ash, airfall of material dislodged by an impact event, cooled lava flows, or a magmatic intrusion. Each one of these possibilities carries with it a (very) different interpretation of how habitable Jezero crater was in the deep past and deciphering which scenario is most correct requires a closer look. 

Image of the Brac rock target located in front of the Perseverance rover. This rock caught our eye for the series of stacked layers with variable thicknesses. Perseverance acquired this image on sol 248 using its onboard Left Navigation Camera (Navcam).
Mars Perseverance Sol 248 - Left Navigation Camera: Photograph of the Brac rock target located in front of the Perseverance rover. This rock caught our eye for the series of stacked layers with variable thicknesses. Perseverance acquired this image on sol 248 using its onboard Left Navigation Camera (Navcam). Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›

Which is why we braved the sand. As of this writing, the rover is parked in front of one of the captivating layered rocks that we spied from a distance, informally named Brac. On sol 253 (November 5th, 2021, Earth time) Perseverance reached out and used the abrader drill bit and the Gaseous Dust Removal Tool to scrape a few millimeters of rock off the surface of Brac to expose the fresh, un-weathered surface for study. The Science Team is currently poring over the images and planning follow up analyses that will bring us one step closer to unraveling how these rocks formed and whether that environment could have been favourable for life. 



About This Blog

These blog updates are provided by self-selected Mars 2020 mission team members who love to share what Perseverance is doing with the public.

Dates of planned rover activities described in these blogs are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

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Contributors+

  • Mariah Baker
    Planetary Scientist, Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum
    Washington, DC
  • Matthew Brand
    SuperCam/ChemCam Engineer, Los Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National Laboratory
  • Sawyer Brooks
    Docking Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Adrian Brown
    Deputy Program Scientist, NASA HQ
    Washington, DC
  • Denise Buckner
    Student Collaborator, University of Florida
    Gainesville, FL
  • Fred Calef III
    Mapping Specialist, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Stephanie Connell
    SuperCam, PhD Student, Purdue University
    West Lafayette, IN
  • Alyssa Deardorff
    Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Kenneth Farley
    Project Scientist, Caltech
    Pasadena, CA
  • Phylindia Gant
    Mars 2020 Student Collaborator, University of Florida
    Gainesville, FL
  • Brad Garczynski
    Student Collaborator, Purdue University
    West Lafayette, IN
  • Erin Gibbons
    Student Collaborator, McGill University
    Montreal, Canada
  • Michael Hecht
    Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) Principal Investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Westford, MA
  • Louise Jandura
    Chief Engineer for Sampling & Caching, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Elisha Jhoti
    Ph.D. Student, University of California, Los Angeles
    Los Angeles, CA
  • Bavani Kathir
    Student Collaborator on Mastcam-Z, Western Washington University
  • Lydia Kivrak
    Student Collaborator, University of Florida
    Gainesville, FL
  • Athanasios Klidaras
    Ph.D. Student, Purdue University
  • Rachel Kronyak
    Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Steven Lee
    Perseverance Deputy Project Manager, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • An Li
    Student Collaborator on PIXL, University of Washington
  • Justin Maki
    Imaging Scientist and Mastcam-Z Deputy Principal Investigator, NASA/JPL
  • Forrest Meyen
    MOXIE Science Team Member, Lunar Outpost
  • Sarah Milkovich
    Assistant Science Manager, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Eleanor Moreland
    Ph.D. Student, Rice University
    Houston, Texas
  • Asier Munguira
    Ph.D. Student, University of the Basque Country
  • Matt Muszynski
    Vehicle Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Claire Newman
    Atmospheric Scientist, Aeolis Research
    Altadena, CA
  • Avi Okon
    Sampling Operations Deputy Lead, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Pegah Pashai
    Vehicle Systems Engineer Lead, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • David Pedersen
    Co-Investigator, PIXL Instrument, Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
    Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Eleni Ravanis
    Student Collaborator, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
    Honolulu, HI
  • Thirupathi Srinivasan
    Robotic Systems Engineer, NASA/JPL
  • Kathryn Stack
    Deputy Project Scientist, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Vivian Sun
    Science Operations Systems Engineer, Staff Scientist, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Iona (Brockie) Tirona
    Sampling Engineer, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Jennifer Trosper
    Project Manager, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Vandi Verma
    Chief Engineer for Robotic Operations, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Rick Welch
    Deputy Project Manager, NASA/JPL
    Pasadena, CA
  • Roger Wiens
    Principal Investigator, SuperCam / Co-Investigator, SHERLOC instrument, Purdue University
    West Lafayette, IN

Tools on the Perseverance Rover+

The Perseverance rover has tools to study the history of its landing site, seek signs of ancient life, collect rock and soil samples, and help prepare for human exploration of Mars. The rover carries:


CAMERAS & SPECTROMETERS
GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR
ENVIRONMENTAL SENSORS
TECHNOLOGY DEMO
SAMPLE COLLECTION

Where is the Rover?

Image of a rover pin-point at Perseverance's location on Mars, Jezero Crater

View Map ›