{"id":10595,"date":"2024-04-03T18:04:40","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T22:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/rock-sampled-by-nasas-perseverance-embodies-why-rover-came-to-mars\/"},"modified":"2024-04-03T18:04:40","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T22:04:40","slug":"rock-sampled-by-nasas-perseverance-embodies-why-rover-came-to-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/rock-sampled-by-nasas-perseverance-embodies-why-rover-came-to-mars\/","title":{"rendered":"Rock Sampled by NASA\u2019s Perseverance Embodies Why Rover Came to Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rock Sampled by NASA\u2019s Perseverance Embodies Why Rover Came to Mars<\/h2>\n

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The 21st rock core captured by NASA\u2019s Perseverance has a composition that would make it good at trapping and preserving signs of microbial life, if any was once present. The sample \u2013 shown being taken here \u2013 was cored from \u201cBunsen Peak\u201d on March 11, the 1,088th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.<\/div>\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The 24th sample taken by the six-wheeled scientist offers new clues about Jezero Crater and the lake it may have once held.<\/em><\/p>\n

Analysis by instruments aboard NASA\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover indicate that the latest rock core taken by the rover was awash in water for an extended period of time in the distant past, perhaps as part of an ancient Martian beach. Collected on March 11, the sample is the rover\u2019s 24th<\/a> \u2013 a tally that includes 21 sample tubes filled with rock cores, two filled with regolith (broken rock and dust), and one with Martian atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo put it simply, this is the kind of rock we had hoped to find when we decided to investigate Jezero Crater,\u201d said Ken Farley, project scientist for Perseverance at Caltech in Pasadena, California. \u201cNearly all the minerals in the rock we just sampled were made in water; on Earth, water-deposited minerals are often good at trapping and preserving ancient organic material and biosignatures. The rock can even tell us about Mars climate conditions that were present when it was formed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The presence of these specific minerals is considered promising for preserving a rich record of an ancient habitable environment on Mars. Such collections of minerals are important for guiding scientists to the most valuable samples for eventual return to Earth with the Mars Sample Return campaign.<\/p>\n

Edge of the Crater\u2019s Rim<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Nicknamed \u201cBunsen Peak\u201d for the Yellowstone National Park landmark, the rock \u2013 about 5.6 feet wide and 3.3 feet high (1.7 meters by 1 meter) \u2013 intrigued Perseverance scientists<\/a> because the outcrop stands tall amid the surrounding terrain and has an interesting texture on one of its faces. They were also interested in Bunsen Peak\u2019s vertical rockface, which offers a nice cross-section of the rock and, because it\u2019s not flat-lying, is less dusty and therefore easier for science instruments to investigate.<\/p>\n

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Meet the 24th Martian sample collected by NASA\u2019s Mars Perseverance rover \u2013 \u201cComet Geyser,\u201d a sample taken from a region of Jezero Crater that is especially rich in carbonate, a mineral linked to habitability.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before taking the sample, Perseverance scanned the rock using the rover\u2019s SuperCam<\/a> spectrometers and the X-ray spectrometer PIXL<\/a>, short for Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry. Then the rover used the rotor on the end of its robotic arm to grind (or abrade) a portion of the surface and scanned the rock again. The results: Bunsen Peak looks to be composed of about 75% carbonate grains cemented together by almost pure silica.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe silica and parts of the carbonate appear microcrystalline, which makes them extremely good at trapping and preserving signs of microbial life that might have once lived in this environment,\u201d said Sandra Siljestr\u00f6m, a Perseverance scientist from the Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) in Stockholm. \u201cThat makes this sample great for biosignature studies if returned to Earth. Additionally, the sample might be one of the older cores collected so far by Perseverance, and that is important because Mars was at its most habitable early in its history.\u201d A potential biosignature is a substance or structure that could be evidence of past life but may also have been produced without the presence of life.<\/p>\n

The Bunsen Peak sample is the third that Perseverance has collected while exploring the \u201cMargin Unit,\u201d a geologic area that hugs the inner edge of Jezero Crater\u2019s rim.<\/p>\n

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\"This<\/figure>
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This mosaic shows a rock called \u201cBunsen Peak\u201d where NASA\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover extracted its 21st rock core and abraded a circular patch to investigate the rock\u2019s composition.<\/div>\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/MSSS<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n
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\"NASA\u2019s<\/figure>
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Perseverance\u2019s CacheCam captured this image of the rover\u2019s latest cored sample \u2013 taken from an intriguing rock called \u201cBunsen Peak\u201d \u2013 on March 11. <\/div>\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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