2 min read

Journey to Jurabi Point

This is an orbital view of the rover's location in relation to
Perseverance's Future Destination: This is an orbital view of the rover's location in relation to "Jurabi Point" which is the next stop in the Margin Campaign.
NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The Perseverance rover is always on the move! With our first core sample of the margin unit in hand, we’re already plotting course to our next stop in the Margin Campaign. One of our future destinations is a location named “Jurabi Point” that the team’s scientists have been eagerly waiting to explore even since before landing.

First though, we’re wrapping up investigation at our current workspace. As we continue to digest the data collected by our proximity science instruments from the first margin unit abrasion, we have performed a short drive we call a ‘bump’ to a nearby region of interest. Images taken by the Mastcam-Z camera show some curved features in the rock here. We hope a brief investigation of this site using our remote science instruments like SuperCam will shed light on the sedimentary structures and weathering history of the margin unit. Then we will begin our approximately 1 km drive north to “Jurabi Point”.

What makes “Jurabi Point” so scientifically interesting? Well, its what geologists call a ‘triple-junction’: a place where three geologic units meet. Specifically, it’s where the boulder-rich unit, upper fan sedimentary rock, and margin unit intersect. Exploring the contacts between these three units will help us clarify their age relationships, whilst also giving us another chance to study and possibly sample a boulder after our previous attempt was unsuccessful.

Once we’ve completed our study at the “Jurabi Point” triple-junction, we then plan on heading west, documenting changes in the margin unit as we drive uphill. We’ll conclude the Margin Campaign by driving down into Neretva Vallis for the first time – the river channel which feeds the western fan – in order to investigate an enigmatic light-toned rock unit exposed within the channel wall.

Written by Athanasios Klidaras, Ph.D. Student at Purdue University

Share

Details

Last Updated
Oct 18, 2024
Editor
NASA Science Editorial Team

Related Terms

Explore More

A grayscale photograph of the Martian surface shows, in the foreground, medium gray soil that looks like wind-blown sand dunes, with a few rounded, medium-sized rocks poking up from the ground. Beyond this area, and covering the upper half of the frame in this circular image, is much more rocky terrain, with both sharp and rounded rocks of all sizes covering the ground.
3 min read

Sols 4368-4369: The Colors of Fall – and Mars

Article8 hours ago
A grayscale landscape photo from Mars, showing a broad, medium gray, rock-strewn plain in the foreground extending far into the distance, surrounded by several hills. The closest hill, in the lower right corner, rises up toward the side of the frame, and is darker than the floor below. A little farther out, on the left, a gentle slope rises from the low middle of the frame to middle of the left side; it’s about the same color as the valley floor, except for a band at its farthest edge, which darkens abruptly as if covered in shadow. The terrain appears softer than the ground below, more sandy than rocky. Beyond that along the same rising plane is a much lighter area, with scattered tiny peaks that are darker – looking like the top of a baked meringue pie. The channel floor runs between these hills, then appears to curve toward the right, behind the first hill and in front of the second. Finally, one other rounded peak appears above the horizon, behind these other two hills in the lower right of the frame, all of this below a light-gray sky filling more than half of the frame above.
3 min read

Sols 4366–4367: One of Those Days on Mars (Sulfate-Bearing Unit to the West of Upper Gediz Vallis)

Article2 days ago
A close-up color photo from the Martian surface shows a pale orange rocky outcropping, which looks on top like a sheet of coarse sandpaper, and on the side facing the camera like the feature is made from numerous, stacked thin layers, with undulating edges that make it look like a topographic map. Atop the feature are multiple plates of smooth stone in the same pale orange color, in different shapes, at different angles to each other, with a texture resembling clippings of thick, dense felt.
2 min read

Sols 4362-4363: Plates and Polygons

Article1 week ago
Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Mars

New InSight into the Red Planet Poster

All Mars Resources

Rover Basics

NASA's Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its SHERLOC WATSON camera, located on the turret at the end of the rover's robotic arm.

Mars Exploration: Science Goals

Water carved channels and transported sediments form fans and deltas within lake basins in this image of Mars' Jezero crater.