This enhanced-color close-up of a rock target called “Cine” was captured by the SuperCam instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover on September 17, 2021, the 206th Martian day, or sol, of rover’s mission.

December 15, 2021

This enhanced-color close-up of a rock target called “Cine” was captured by the SuperCam instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover on September 17, 2021, the 206th Martian day, or sol, of rover’s mission. SuperCam’s Remote Microscopic Imager took two distinct images that were later combined to form the close-up of “Cine.” The diameter of each image, or the width of this vertical mosaic, is about 1.7 inches (4.4 centimeters). The target is 92 inches (2 meters) away, seen from the rover’s mast.

Figure 1
An even more zoomed-in image is available as Figure 1.

The image shows a rock layer made up of millimeter-sized gray, angular grains or crystals that are tightly packed. The image on the right shows a detail of the grain/crystal texture. The composition of this rock target was investigated with SuperCam’s rock-vaporizing laser and spectrometer, along with the Mastcam-Z camera system. Using these instruments, scientists can study the chemical composition of rocks from a distance. Analysis of “Cine” showed that it was rich in the mineral olivine. After the image was taken, the team debated whether it was an igneous (volcanic) rock or consists of fine sedimentary grains of igneous material that were cemented together in a watery environment.

SuperCam is led by Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where the instrument's Body Unit was developed. That part of the instrument includes several spectrometers as well as control electronics and software. The Mast Unit, including the Remote Microscopic Imager used for these images, was developed and built by several laboratories of the CNRS (the French research center) and French universities under the contracting authority of Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES, the French space agency).

A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

For more about Perseverance:

mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/

nasa.gov/perseverance

Credits

NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP

ENLARGE

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