Perseverance is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as the “continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.” The Mars 2020 rover team has truly embodied the rover’s namesake — from working together to launch the Perseverance rover during a global pandemic, to navigating the impact of the recent California wildfires. Over the last month, members of the rover’s family at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech have faced many challenges due to these wildfires.
Things have been a little slow on Mars as Perseverance patiently waits for its earthly friends to recover during such challenging times. (Note: Nominal operations resumed this week.) This quiet period has allowed the rover to reflect on the many accomplishments of the Mars 2020 mission over several years since landing in Jezero crater. These accomplishments range from discovering volcanic rocks and sampling ancient lake beds to investigating rocks with possible biosignatures.
Despite the challenges back on Earth, Perseverance still has much to look forward to this year. Looking ahead, the rover’s exploration of the crater rim continues to be an exciting endeavor as Perseverance ventures into uncharted Martian territories. Exploration of the crater rim will involve the analysis of more intriguing rocks to understand the geological history of Mars and its potential for past life. The rover is approaching Witch Hazel Hill, an exciting area of interest for its potential to host some of the oldest exposed Mars bedrock, and will use a variety of instrument techniques to explore the many layers of rock exposed here. This may be the rover’s chance to explore ancient rocks that were uplifted and exposed during the impact that created Jezero crater. These rocks may reveal key information about Mars’ ancient climate history and the formation of Mars’ early crust.
During Perseverance’s investigation of the crater rim, the rover will add to its out-of-this-world rock collection. Each rock can tell a story about its past, leveraging insights into whether there was a body of water, a nearby volcano, or the possibility of microbial life. On the crater rim, Perseverance is searching for rocks that are more than 4 billion years old — unique to Mars since most materials that old on Earth have been altered or destroyed by the planet’s recycling system (plate tectonics). The rover is also interested in collecting samples from hydrothermal systems or impact melt. Don’t ask the rover what its favorite rock is because it won’t tell you — Perseverance says it loves them all!
Perseverance is ready to “rover-come” any challenges this year and looks forward to embarking on its continued journey onto the crater rim. The rover would not be able to accomplish these incredible feats without the guidance and support of its internationally distributed operations team. While our team members regroup, heal, and work together to rebuild here on Earth, Perseverance waits patiently, ready to continue its journey on the Red Planet.
Written by Margaret Deahn, Ph.D. student, and Stephanie Connell, Ph.D. candidate, at Purdue University
