UNITED STATES: The NASA Perseverance rover’s rock samples are expected to give researchers a timeline of the planet’s geology and water history. However, they will have to wait until the Mars Sample Return Campaign, which is slated to launch in 2033, before the samples can be brought back from the red planet.
However, the revelations uncovered thus far regarding the samples have scientists buzzing with excitement. Four studies that were published in the journal Science provide documentation for the findings.
For NASA’s 2020 Mars Exploration Mission and the Perseverance rover, the Jezero Crater, which is located north of the Martian equator, was a key target because it appeared to contain what appeared to be a river delta created inside a lakebed. As a result, it might be able to provide information to scientists about how and when the water moved across the surface of the red planet.
According to David Shuster, a professor of Earth and planetary science at the University of California, Berkley, the age of the rocks that were retrieved from the crater’s floor may give a range for how long the delta could have formed.
Shuster explained in a press release that one of the main goals of the sample return programme is to determine when the delta was deposited because doing so will determine when the lake existed and when potentially favorable climatic conditions for life were there. Shuster is a member of the NASA science team for sample collecting and one of the three major authors of the Science papers that summarize the effort.
According to Shuster, the samples taken from the Jezero Crater contain an unexpected treat in the form of igneous cumulate rocks. These rocks, which were created when molten magma cooled, are among the best for illuminating Mars’ exact geochronology when samples have been brought back to Earth. These rocks exhibit signs of water-related changes as well.
“From a sample standpoint, this is enormous. People are thrilled about the evidence of aqueous modification of igneous rocks because it will help them comprehend the possible environmental conditions that supported life at some point after these rocks were produced”, noted Shuster in the press release.
Geologists anticipated that the Jezero Crater’s bottom would be covered with sediment or cooled lava before the samples were taken. However, rocks appeared to have originated below and slowly cooled at two locations known as “Sétah”. They were apparently covered with tesla that steadily eroded throughout the last 2.5 to 3.5 billion years.
The igneous rock’s structure revealed olivine and pyroxene interspersed with millimeter-sized grains, which could only have developed by gradual
cooling. This is in line with the notion that the rocks were first exposed by erosion over time after being produced deep beneath from slowly cooling magma.
Today, between 8:33 a.m. and 10:33 a.m. EST, the uncrewed autonomous Artemis-1 mission will lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39B. The next launch window is Friday, September 2, 2022, at noon, barring bad weather or other unforeseen circumstances.
Also Read: NASA Artemis-1 Launch: All You Need to Know
