Since January, NASA’s Perseverance rover has been tracing the south facet of Neretva Vallis, which is presumably the fossil of a river that after fed the rover’s touchdown web site in Jezero Crater.
Within the distance, Perseverance’s operators may see the glimmer of its subsequent vacation spot: Shiny Angel, so named for the light-toned outcrops which may be historic rocks uncovered by the beforehand operating river.
However what had been a comparatively clean journey was a slog as Perseverance rolled right into a area of unexpected boulders. After days of slogging, the choice was made to reroute Perseverance throughout a dune area and thru the river channel. It proved the right determination: Now, Perseverance has reached Shiny Angel’s touchdown ultimately.
“We had been eyeing the river channel simply to the north as we went, hoping to discover a part the place the dunes have been small and much sufficient aside for a rover to go between,” stated Evan Graser, an engineer who helps plan Perseverance’s route, in a statement. “Perseverance additionally wanted an entrance ramp we may safely journey down. When the imagery confirmed each, we made a beeline for it.”
Associated: Perseverance rover’s Mars rock pattern could comprise finest proof of potential historic life
Perseverance depends on AutoNav, a system that permits the rover to navigate itself. The place earlier Mars rovers required complete management from Earth, Perseverance’s guides may give it a basic route, and AutoNav will deal with the minute-to-minute steering. At first, AutoNav may circumnavigate the boulders in Perseverance’s path. However quickly, the boulders grew to become too massive for the system to deal with.
“What had been drives averaging over 100 meters per Martian day went all the way down to solely tens of meters. It was irritating” stated Graser within the assertion.
Simply to the north of Perseverance’s course, a area of Martian dunes separated it from the river channel’s flooring. If Perseverance may cross the dunes, it may depart the boulders behind. Nonetheless, navigating by way of such dunes is dangerous, because the Martian sands have a manner of trapping rovers — simply ask Spirit, which acquired caught in 2009. Luckily, these dunes have been small and unfold out sufficient for Perseverance to chart a course by way of them.
Now within the river channel, Perseverance may cowl some 200 meters (650 ft) per Martian day. The brand new course was lucky for scientific causes, too. Within the midst of the channel Perseverance encountered the so-called Mount Washburn, a rocky hill that offered scientists with thrilling geological alternatives. Certainly one of them was a curious rock that scientists speculate often is the product of a subsurface magma pool.
Then, after reaching a cliff close to the north fringe of the channel, Perseverance turned west.
4 Martian days later, the rover reached Shiny Angel and commenced to investigate its rocks. This begs a query: Ought to Perseverance acquire a rock pattern right here?
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