PERSEVERANCE: Discoveries on Mars
Mars was a habitable planet teaming with life billions of years ago but the
planet became barren over time. Humans, with the help of a robot called
Perseverance, are now trying to explore and study the planet’s history.
Robots sent into Soviet Union made the very first satellite sent into
space named “Sputnik.” The advancement made by the Soviets prompted
other nations, such as the United States, to also develop their very own
robots for space exploration. In 2024, NASA took the initiative to go to Mars
under its Mars Exploration Program which aims to explore potential life
forms, its geology, and its climate. The project heavily relies on robots such
as the Valkyrie, Perseverance, Curiosity, and Ingenuity.
Perseverance, the most recent and most advanced among them, is a
car-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Jezero crater on Mars. The robot
was manufactured by The Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was launched onto
Mars on July 30, 2020. The machine carried a mini-helicopter—Ingenuity to
Mars, as an experimental technology test bed. The rover's goal includes
identifying ancient Martian Biology, including microbial life, and collecting
rocks and soil samples.
The rover was designed based on its predecessor, the Curiosity Rover.
However, the Perseverance was made to have larger instruments, newer
sampling and catching methods, and more robust wheels, making it slightly
heavier than the Curiosity rover. It was named by a 7 th grader from NASA’s
“Name the Rover” contest.
The robot is being used to discover volcanic rocks in the Jezero crater,
where they discovered several Igneous Rock types, lava flows, and rock
crystallized from a slow-cooling magma. These rocks showed evidence of the
interaction with water and can record habitable conditions for microbial life.
Sediments formed from still waters were also discovered and could hold
fossilized remains of life. Sediments formed from still waters were also
discovered and could hold fossilized remains. Oxygen was also produced by
the Rover from the Planets’ CO2. Creating 12 grams of it, exceeding NASA’s
expectations. NASA hopes to advance the signs of past life on Mars and gain
insights on the planet’s evolution
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