Exciting Revelations on Martian Water Unearthed by Perseverance Rover
Perseverance rover's remarkable journey on Mars unveils tantalizing insights into the presence of water in Jezero Crater, unraveling the captivating history concealed within Martian rocks
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NASAs Perseverance rover has revealed new insights into the history of an ancient lake and river delta on Mars after a 1,000-day exploration on the planet's surface.
The in-depth analysis carried out by the rovers has revealed new information that is aiding scientists in unraveling the enigma of Mars' enigmatic history. Ultimately, this data could provide answers as to whether life once thrived on the red planet. Perseverance and its helicopter counterpart, Ingenuity, touched down in Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021, in pursuit of evidence of ancient microbial life.
As part of its exploration, the robotic explorer has recently finished studying a river delta that used to flow into a lake in Jezero Crater billions of years ago. In addition, Perseverance has gathered 23 rock samples from various sites within the crater and delta.
The planet Mars
NASA
Colonizing Mars presents significant risks and exorbitant costs, yet Elon Musk is determined to pursue it. In the future, NASA and the European Space Agency hope to retrieve samples from Mars, each roughly the size of a classroom chalk, and encased in metal tubes, through their joint Mars Sample Return campaign. These samples could then be studied on Earth, allowing for a more thorough analysis using lab equipment that is too cumbersome to transport to Mars on a rover.
Scientists shared some of the insights they have gleaned from Perseverances trek across Mars on Tuesday at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco.
Following the water on Mars
The rover uses an abrasion tool on its arm to collect samples from Martian rock surfaces and then examines the composition of the rocks using its Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry, known as PIXL.
Recent rock samples collected by Perseverance include silica, a fine-grained mineral that assists in preserving ancient fossils and organic molecules on Earth, which can form during geological and biological processes.
"In Earthly settings, this fine-grained silica is typically present in areas that were previously sandy," stated Morgan Cable, deputy principal investigator of PIXL at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "It's the type of environment where, on Earth, remnants of past life could potentially be stored and uncovered at a later time."
The Perseverance rover took a 360-degree mosaic comprising 993 images and 2.38 billion pixels from a location dubbed "Airey Hill" in November.
JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/NASA
The rocks contained iron associated with phosphate, a natural source of the element phosphorus used in DNA and cell membranes. The samples also contained carbonate, suggesting past water-rich environments and providing insight into the environmental conditions on Mars when the rocks were first formed.
"We selected the Jezero Crater as our landing site based on orbital imagery that revealed clear evidence of a once-larger lake that filled the crater. Delta rocks are an ideal location for preserving signs of ancient life as fossils, making it a potentially habitable environment," said Ken Farley, Perseverance project scientist and California Institute of Technology geochemistry professor. "Following extensive exploration, we have mapped out the crater's geologic history, documenting its transition from a lake to a river over time."
The rocks on Mars have a tale to tell.
Scientists believe that Jezero Crater formed when an asteroid slammed into Mars 4 billion years ago.
MAP Mars.
EMM/EXI/Dimitra Atri/NYU Abu Dhabi Center for Astrophysics and Space Science
New images of Mars could potentially pave the way for human colonization of another planet.
After its landing, Perseverance immediately began studying and collecting samples from the floor of the crater. Through the rover's investigation, scientists were able to conclude that the crater floor consists of volcanic rock, potentially formed by either surface magma or volcanic activity on Mars.
As Perseverance made its way, it discovered sandstone and mudstone, indicating that a river once flowed into the crater millions of years ago. A layer of mudstones with high salt content is the only remaining evidence of a shallow lake that once filled the crater, spanning 22 miles wide and 100 feet deep, before drying up due to a change in climate.
Additionally, Perseverance uncovered evidence of boulders from other parts of Mars that were carried by fast-flowing rivers and deposited within the river delta and the crater.
"In orbital images, we were able to see a broad outline of these chapters in Jezero's history, but it wasn't until we got up close with Perseverance that we could truly understand the timeline in detail," stated Libby Ives, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
This illustration depicts water breaking through the rim of Jezero Crater billions of years ago. The rover is now exploring the area.
JPL-Caltech/NASA
The suite of instruments on Perseverance has the capability to spot minuscule fossil structures and the chemical remnants left by microbial life, but it has not yet made any such discoveries. Nevertheless, the geological evidence collected by the rover so far is suggesting an intriguing possibility.
"We have prime conditions for uncovering evidence of ancient life in the presence of carbonates and phosphates, indicating a water-based, habitable environment, as well as silica, which is excellent for preservation," Cable stated.
The mission is not complete yet. The rover will now investigate an area near the entrance of the crater, where a river once overflowed, leaving carbonate deposits that look like a bathtub ring.
