Page 32 - EngineerIT September 2021

SPACE TECHNOLOGY

Perseverance rover collects puzzle

pieces of Mars' history

ASA’s Perseverance Mars rover successfully collected its first pair of rock of the most important events in the
samples, and scientists already are gaining new insights into the region. After crater’s history. Some of those events
Ncollecting its first sample named “Montdenier,” Sept. 6, the team collected a include the formation of Jezero crater,
second, “Montagnac,” from the same rock Sept. 8. the emergence and disappearance
Analysis of the rocks from which the Montdenier and Montagnac samples were of Jezero’s lake, and changes to the
taken and from the rover’s previous sampling attempt, may help the science team piece planet’s climate in the ancient past.
together the timeline of the area’s past, which was marked by volcanic activity and What’s more, salts have been
periods of persistent water. spied within these rocks. These salts
“It looks like our first rocks reveal a potentially habitable sustained environment,” may have formed when groundwater
said Ken Farley of Caltech, project scientist for the mission, which is led by NASA’s Jet flowed through and altered the
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California. “It’s a big deal that the water was original minerals in the rock, or more
there a long time.” likely when liquid water evaporated,
The rock that provided the mission’s first core samples is basaltic in composition leaving the salts. The salt minerals
and may be the product of lava flows. The presence of crystalline minerals in volcanic in these first two rock cores may also
rocks is especially helpful in radiometric dating. The volcanic origin of the rock could have trapped tiny bubbles of ancient
help scientists accurately date when it formed. Each sample can serve as part of a Martian water. If present, they could
larger chronological puzzle; put them in the right order and scientists have a timeline serve as microscopic time capsules,

Two holes are visible in the rock, nicknamed “Rochette,” from which NASA’s Perseverance rover obtained its first core samples. The rover
drilled the hole on the left, called “Montagnac,” Sept. 7, and the hole on the right, known as “Montdenier,” Sept. 1. Below it is a round spot
the rover abraded. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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