The Perseverance rover leaves the Martian crater where it first landed. The views are amazing

Three and a half years after landing in a crater north of the Martian equator Perseverance Rover He encounters the steepest terrain of his adventure to try to climb out of it. Climbing along the western rim of the Jezero Crater leaves us with photographs to remember.

NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars on February 18, 2021, and has been exploring the Jezero Riverbed and its river delta ever since. In mid-August, having traveled more than 30 kilometers and collected 24 rock cores for a future sample retrieval mission, Perseverance began its fifth scientific campaign on the crater rim.

As Perseverance navigates the most challenging terrain of its mission on the Red Planet, it captures stunning panoramas that show both its past trajectory and the challenges it faces on its new science mission from a new perspective.

What are you going to do on top of the crater?

Two regions that the Perseverance science team wants to study as a priority at the summit of Jezero Crater are Turquino Peak and Witch Hazel Hill. Images of ancient geological faults captured by Mars orbiters suggest that Pico Turquino may have been exposed millions of years ago. extinct hydrothermal activity. For its part, Witch Hazel Hill contains layered rocks that may date back to a time when Mars had a much different climate than it does today.

These areas are of particular interest to NASA scientists because they can confirm that Mars had habitable conditions and may once have harbored microbial life forms. Not long ago, Perseverance explored an area called Bright Angel, where it selected a rock nicknamed “Cheyawa Falls.” Their strange structures may be signs of microbial life that inhabited the area when streams of water flowed through the crater.

To reach these promising sites, the rover will have to climb slopes up to 23 degrees steep, covered with sand and dust on a fragile crust of soil. Perseverance had overcome similar climbs before, but never combined with such slippery and loose terrain.

Incredibly difficult climb

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is carefully planning Perseverance’s movements. Despite this, the beginning of the ascent became unbearable: for every two steps forward that the rover took, it was necessary to take at least one step back.

Mission planners met to consider other options and tried several tactics to improve robot traction: Reverse in certain conditions that favor Perseverance’s suspension system, drive in a zig-zag pattern to reduce lean and maintain control of the rover, and stay close to the northern edge of the slope where there are larger rocks and better traction. .

The latter strategy has proven to be the most effective, and the team plans to make this approach a priority as Perseverance continues its ascent. The scientific team wants to reach the top of the crater as soon as possible, but in the meantime enjoy the panoramic view of the slope.

On September 27, Perseverance captured a 44-image mosaic from a waypoint called Faraway Rock. The photo shows the interior of Jezero Crater and many of the sites the rover has explored since its arrival.

Images | NASA-JPL

In Hatak | After three years in a Martian crater, the Perseverance rover has begun its most dangerous mission yet: climbing to the edge of a Martian crater.