Signs of Life on Mars? NASA's Perseverance Rover Begins the Hunt!
A big shout out to
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen for referring me to the video and story of the "Signs of Life on Mars? NASA's Perseverance Rover Begins the Hunt!" This is a 7 second video clip about Perseverance's Arm over Paver Rocks and I found a longer video, which had been released by "Physics Insight" and I am using that video along with the real story. Thank you John! Note that the video was made from the images associated with the below story and although it alludes to a UFO, that was not the real purpose of NASA's scientific exploration of this Paver Brick area of Jezero Crater...
This story is longer than I usually provide, but an important component of what "Percy" is on Mars to do. Here is the story as released by NASA on their link:
Perseverance's Arm over 'Paver Rocks'
July 20, 2021
The robotic arm on NASA’s Perseverance rover reached out to examine rocks in an area on Mars nicknamed the “Cratered Floor Fractured Rough” area in this image captured on July 10, 2021 (the 138th sol, or Martian day, of its mission). The image was taken by one of the rover’s hazard cameras. An additional set of images from July 10-12 have been compiled into a GIF.
Scientists are particularly interested in the flat rocks that appear light in color (nicknamed “paver rocks”). This image was processed to enhance contrast.
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.
The Science Team
While the rover has significant autonomous capabilities, such as driving itself across the Martian landscape, hundreds of earthbound scientists are still involved in analyzing results and planning further investigations.
“There are almost 500 people on the science team,” Beegle said. “The number of participants in any given action by the rover is on the order of 100. It’s great to see these scientists come to agreement in analyzing the clues, prioritizing each step, and putting together the pieces of the Jezero science puzzle.”
An image of data readings which show chemicals detected within a single rock on Mars by PIXL, one of the instruments on the end of the robotic arm aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover.
PIXL's First Chemical Maps: This data shows chemicals detected within a single rock on Mars by PIXL, one of the instruments on the end of the robotic arm aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. PIXL allows scientists to study where specific chemicals can be found within an area as small as a postage stamp. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Full image and caption ›
That will be critical when the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover collects its first samples for eventual return to Earth. They’ll be sealed in superclean metallic tubes on the Martian surface so that a future mission could collect them and send back to the home planet for further analysis.
Despite decades of investigation on the question of potential life, the Red Planet has stubbornly kept its secrets.
“Mars 2020, in my view, is the best opportunity we will have in our lifetime to address that question,” said Kenneth Williford, the deputy project scientist for Perseverance.
The geological details are critical, Allwood said, to place any indication of possible life in context, and to check scientists’ ideas about how a second example of life’s origin could come about.
Combined with other instruments on the rover, the detectors on the arm, including SHERLOC and WATSON, could make humanity’s first discovery of life beyond Earth.
More About the Mission
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.
Let me know what you think about the video and NASA's story...
Kerry
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