“Whether the boulders appear intriguing enough for closer examination and possible sampling remains to be seen – literally,” said Farley. So the team will be keeping their options open, ready to stop for anything that piques their curiosity. Boulders are also desirable because their large surface area allows scientists to visually investigate many potentially distinct rocks in a single image. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech Boulder Field AnalysisĪs with the rock fragments in the Otis Peak sample, scientists believe the boulders likely formed elsewhere and were transported to their present location billions of years ago by an ancient river. Perseverance’s ‘Otis Peak’ Sample Reveals Colors of Conglomerate: NASA’s Perseverance captured this image June 13 of a sample it cored from a conglomerate rock called “Emerald Lake.” This “Otis Peak” core shows distinctly colored areas that are individual minerals transported by a river that once flowed into Jezero Crater. With this sample sealed and stored in its belly, the rover is on its way to a low ridge called “Snowdrift Peak.” To get there, it will have to cross a field of boulders. Now in its third science campaign, Perseverance is exploring the top of a fan-shaped pile of sedimentary rock that stands 130 feet (40 meters) tall. Scientists will be able to look at each pebble and fragment in this core, dubbed “Otis Peak,” to determine details such as its age, what the environmental conditions were like in the river when the conglomerate formed, and whether it contains signs of ancient microbial life. Perseverance is collecting these samples so that they can be brought to Earth by the NASA-ESA ( European Space Agency) Mars Sample Return campaign and studied by lab equipment that’s too large and complex to bring to Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS Otis Peak Core Sample and Its Significance Rover tracks across the middle of the image give a sense of scale. Perseverance Views Jezero Boulder Field: The Mastcam-Z imager on NASA’s Perseverance rover captured a series of images on July 6 that were stitched together to show a field of boulders deposited in Jezero Crater by a fast-moving ancient river. Conglomerates like this one (nicknamed “Emerald Lake” by the team) pack a lot of information about places the rover may never visit, with each new rock fragment representing a geologic a story to be told. That’s because this sample was drilled by the rover from an outcrop composed of tiny chunks of other rocks that were carried from elsewhere by a river in the distant past and deposited here, where they became cemented together. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover sealed the tube containing its 20th rock core sample on June 23 (the 832nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission), and the mission’s science team is excited about its potential. The sample, destined for comprehensive Earth study, aids in the rover’s astrobiological mission and paves the way for future human exploration of Mars. The Perseverance Mars rover has secured a significant rock core sample, potentially bearing diverse geological narratives. The six-wheeled geologist is getting some assistance in its search for diverse rock samples that could be brought to Earth for deeper investigation. This illustration depicts NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover studying rocks with its robotic arm.
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