Perseverance sent images of its wheel tracks across the red surface of Mars on Friday.
This is the first of many checkouts and milestones for the rover after its successful landing on Feb. 18. Once the mission actually starts exploring Mars, it will go on drives averaging 200 meters or more.
“When it comes to wheeled vehicles on other planets, few events come close to those of the first ride for the first time,” said Zarifian. “This was our first chance to ‘kick the tires’ and test persistence. The rover’s six-wheel drive response was excellent. We are now convinced that our drive system is good to handle, able to take us wherever we go. take where science leads us in the next two years. “
On the first run, the rover advanced 4 meters, made a 150 degree left turn, and reversed 8 feet. The robber was able to turn his cameras to where he had landed.
Other images sent back by the rover revealed more about the landing site, which agency Octavia E. Butler Landing has designated in honor of the deceased science fiction author from Pasadena, California. The rover’s mission is managed from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is located in Pasadena.
“Butler’s protagonists embody determination and inventiveness, making them a perfect fit for the Perseverance rover mission and the theme of overcoming challenges,” said Katie Stack Morgan, deputy project scientist for the rover. “Butler inspired and influenced the planetary scientific community and many beyond, including those typically underrepresented in STEM fields.”
Butler was the first African American woman to win both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award. She was also the first science fiction writer to be honored with a MacArthur Fellowship.
“I can’t think of a better person to mark this historic landing site than Octavia E. Butler, who not only grew up alongside JPL in Pasadena, but also inspired millions with her vision of a science-based future,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, in a statement.
Her guiding principle: ‘When you use science, do it accurately’ is what NASA’s science team is all about. Her work continues to inspire today’s scientists and engineers around the world – all in the name of a bolder, fairer future for everyone. “
A Martian control
Perseverance goes through all the moves to see every aspect of the rover’s health before embarking on a journey through the Jezero Crater in search of the old life.
“Persistence has done an exceptional job during its first two weeks on the red planet,” said Robert Hogg, deputy manager of the rover’s surface mission.
The rover has received a software update that will allow it to explore Mars, and it has tested a number of onboard instruments, such as a ground-penetrating radar and its Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment, or MOXIE instrument, which measures the planet’s carbon dioxide. in oxygen.
The rover has also deployed two wind sensors on the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer, or MEDA instrument, Perseverance’s personal weather station. The instrument is already sending weather data back to Earth.
Perseverance also bends its 7-foot long robotic arm, which carries instruments and cameras that will be used to investigate Mars.
“The first test of the robotic arm on Tuesday was a big moment for us,” said Hogg. “That’s the main tool the science team will use to closely examine the geological features of the Jezero Crater, and then we’ll drill and take samples that they find most interesting. images of working beautifully after his long journey to Mars – well, it made my day. “
More tests are planned for the rover in the coming weeks to assess the rest of its scientific instruments. Persistence will also start exploring longer rides.
In the spring, the rover will drop the Ingenuity helicopter on the surface of Mars to prepare for test flights.
Perseverance has sent back images every step of the way, a total of about 7,000 since landing.
Once all these checkouts are done and the helicopter has completed its flight testing, Perseverance’s science mission will really begin.
Images taken by the rover help mission scientists plan Perseverance’s route once she starts exploring. They’ve spied intriguing rocks of different colors and textures, as well as different layering, something the scientists want to explore more closely with the rover and its instruments. Those layers could help reveal Mars’ past climate.
About a mile and a half from the rover is a large hill, a rocky outcrop of layered rock deposited by rivers in a delta as they flowed into the ancient lake that once filled Jezero Crater 3.9 billion years ago, Morgan said.
Using images taken above the landing site by NASA’s orbiters around Mars, the science team is mapping out different routes the rover could take to further explore these rocks and the outcrop. Next, the scientists will have to make decisions about where to collect samples that will eventually be returned to Earth by future missions.
“We have landed in a very interesting area where we are trying to find out the origin of these rocks: are they volcanic or are they sedimentary?” Morgan said. “From a sampling and scientific perspective, we are interested in taking samples of the rocks in and around where the rover is now, as well as the rocks that we will see on the way to the delta.”