Mars 2020 which aimed in learning more about the ancient life and for collecting rock and regolith samples from Mars become successful as its perseverance rover has successful.
Asiya S
'Rochette' After Perseverance Sampling | credits: NASA
NASA's mission named Mars 2020 which aims at learning
more about the ancient life and for collecting rock and regolith samples from
Mars become successful as its perseverance rover has successfully collected its
first rock samples. The first sample named Montdenier was collected
on September 6 and another sample named Montagnac was collected on
September 8. Both the samples are expected to have journey back to Earth. And
from the samples, scientists came to the conclusion that the region was
prone to volcanic activity and water.
Perseverance was launched on July 30, 2020 and it landed
on Mars on February 18, 2021 in Jazero Crater. According to the researches and photos available Jazero Crater was having a water body with deltas in the
past which was the reason for landing Perseverance there. The main aim of the
mission was to learn more about the planet and to collect more samples from
Mars. Learning more about the planet and its ancient microbial life can help us
to know about the possibilities of life in Mars. It is also trying to find any
living organism present in the planet. The rover is designed in such a way that
they could drill the samples from Mars and collect it in small tubes which are
then sealed in individual tubes. These tubes are set on the surface for second
ignition and if possible, they could reach the Earth on 2031 for further
studies.
The samples are helping the team to better understand the past of the planet. The rock sample is basaltic in composition and they can be the product of lava flows which leads the team into the conclusion that the past of that land is marked by volcanic activity and water. These volcanic rocks may have crystalline minerals which can help in radiometric dating by which the scientists could know the date of their formation. Each sample can help the team to solve the chronological puzzle and could get the details of the events like formation of Jazero crater, emergence and disappearance of Jezero’s lake and about the change in the climate of the planet in the past.
Perseverance is now trying to find new samples to answer many unknown questions about the Mars past. The promising samples are sealed in titanium tubes which the rover carries in its chassis and will be stored there until they are retrieved. And NASA is planning to have more “depots” for the rover in the future to collect more samples from the planet from different places and soon we could wish for the secrets hidden in the planet to be known.