Photo: NASA
The Perseverance rover has been roaming the surface of Mars since February 2021, and even if it didn’t yet find definitive proof of life there, past or present, it seems to be on the right track. Case in point, the veins of lighter material seen in this here rock sample.
What you’re looking at is a piece of Martian soil Perseverance collected from the Yori Pass area near its landing zone, the Jezero Crater. It is the latest sample of the 14 it already collected from different areas (alongside one atmospheric sample and three witness tubes), which will be sent back to Earth early next decade with the Mars Sample Return mission.
This particular sample is somewhat similar to a very promising one the rover snatched back in July. It is a sandstone piece comprising fine grains carried here by water a very, very long time ago. The veins seen in the pictures the rover sent back could hold clues about ancient life and got NASA so worked up about it that it even tweeted about it (check below the text).
“We often prioritize study of fine-grained sedimentary rocks like this one in our search for organics and potential biosignatures,” said in a statement Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance deputy project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion.
“What’s especially interesting about the Yori Pass outcrop is that it is laterally equivalent with ‘Hogwallow Flats,’ where we found very fine-grained sedimentary rocks. That means that the rock bed is located at the same elevation as Hogwallow, and has a large, traceable footprint visible on the surface.”
With the sample safely tucked in its belly, Perseverance will now head out to something NASA describes as Observation Mountain, a “mega sand ripple” located 745 feet (227 meters) from its current location. From there, it will collect “its first samples of regolith, or crushed rock and dust.”
This particular sample is somewhat similar to a very promising one the rover snatched back in July. It is a sandstone piece comprising fine grains carried here by water a very, very long time ago. The veins seen in the pictures the rover sent back could hold clues about ancient life and got NASA so worked up about it that it even tweeted about it (check below the text).
“We often prioritize study of fine-grained sedimentary rocks like this one in our search for organics and potential biosignatures,” said in a statement Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance deputy project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion.
“What’s especially interesting about the Yori Pass outcrop is that it is laterally equivalent with ‘Hogwallow Flats,’ where we found very fine-grained sedimentary rocks. That means that the rock bed is located at the same elevation as Hogwallow, and has a large, traceable footprint visible on the surface.”
With the sample safely tucked in its belly, Perseverance will now head out to something NASA describes as Observation Mountain, a “mega sand ripple” located 745 feet (227 meters) from its current location. From there, it will collect “its first samples of regolith, or crushed rock and dust.”
Do I geek out about cool-looking sandstone? You bet.
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) November 17, 2022
A shallow scouring with my drill’s abrasion bit shows this rock has veins of lighter material inside. Could it hold clues about ancient life? Time for more #SamplingMars.
More on “Yori Pass”: https://t.co/raefWPc9JZ pic.twitter.com/glecOQ49wk
Google News