Mars 2020
- SIGMABIOL
- Jul 24, 2020
- 4 min read
Perseverance is a Mars rover manufactured by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for use in NASA's Mars 2020 mission. Nearly identical in design to the Curiosity rover, Perseverance will carry seven scientific instruments to study the Martian surface at Jezero crater, 23 cameras in total, and two microphones. The rover will also be accompanied by the helicopter Ingenuity, which will help Perseverance to scout for locations to study. The rover is scheduled to launch on 30 July 2020 and land on Mars in February of 2021
MARS 2020 SCIENCE OBJECTIVE A:
Characterize the processes that formed and modified the geologic record within a field exploration area on Mars selected for evidence of an astrobiologically-relevant ancient environment and geologic diversity.
MARS 2020 SCIENCE OBJECTIVE B:
Perform the following astrobiologically relevant investigations on the geologic materials at the landing site:
Determine the habitability of an ancient environment.
For ancient environments interpreted to have been habitable, search for materials with high biosignature preservation potential.
Search for potential evidence of past life using the observations regarding habitability and preservation as a guide.
MARS 2020 SCIENCE OBJECTIVE C:
Assemble rigorously documented and returnable cached samples for a possible future return to Earth.
Obtain samples that are scientifically selected, for which the field context is documented, that contain the most promising samples identified in Objective B and that represent the geologic diversity of the field site.
Ensure compliance with future needs in the areas of planetary protection and engineering so that the cached samples could be returned in the future if NASA chooses to do so.
What is Surface Operations?
The surface operations phase is the time when the Perseverance rover conducts its scientific studies on Mars. After landing safely (Feb. 18, 2021), the rover has a primary mission span of at least one Martian year (687 Earth days). The Perseverance rover uses a depot caching strategy for its exploration of Mars.
What does Perseverance do during surface operations?
While exploring Mars during surface operations, Perseverance:
finds rocks that formed in, or were altered by, environments that could have supported microbial life in Mars’ ancient past (Objective A)
finds rocks capable of preserving chemical traces of ancient life (biosignatures), if any existed (Objective B)
drills core samples from about 30 promising rock and “soil” (regolith) targets and caches them on the Martian surface (Objective C)
tests the ability to produce oxygen from the carbon-dioxide Martian atmosphere, in support of future human missions (Objective D)
How does Perseverance explore during surface operations?
Step 1: Find Compelling Rocks
As the Perseverance rover explores Mars, scientists identify promising rock targets. They especially look for rocks that formed in, or were altered by, water. Water is key to life as we know it. Such rocks are even more interesting if they have organic molecules, the carbon-based chemical building blocks of life. Some special types of rocks can preserve chemical traces of life over billions of years. Finding rocks that formed in water, have the chemical building blocks of life, and can preserve signs of organics and life is key. Together, they improve the chances of finding ancient traces of microbial life on Mars, if any ever existed. In addition to these special rocks, Perseverance also collects volcanic and other rocks to help establish a record of geologic and environmental changes over time.
Step 2: Collect Rock Samples
Once scientists identify a rock target of interest, Perseverance drills a core sample from it. With a pre-cleaned tube for the sample, the rover’s rotary percussive coring drill penetrates about 2 inches (5 centimeters) into the target material.
Step 3: Seal the Rock Samples
Perseverance breaks off the core sample from the rock, and caps and hermetically seals the sample in its tube. Each sample weighs about a half of an ounce (15 grams).
Step 4: Carry the Samples
The Perseverance rover places each sealed tube in a storage rack on board and transports it until the mission team chooses to deposit it on the Martian surface. The team uses a strategy called depot caching to determine when and where to leave tubes. In the baseline plan, Perseverance places one or more large groups of samples in strategic locations.
Step 5: Cache the Samples
The Perseverance rover puts the Martian samples, the witness blanks, and procedural blanks in the same place on the Martian surface so that a future mission could potentially retrieve and return them all together. The rover may cache over 30 selected rock and “soil” (regolith) samples.
Follow-on Steps potentially completed by a later Mars mission The sample cache(s) will remain on the Martian surface, awaiting potential pick-up by a future mission. Images taken by orbiters can identify locations of the samples with a precision of about 3 feet (~one meter). Images taken by the rover’s own cameras will increase that precision to less than half of an inch (~one centimeter).
MARS 2020 SCIENCE OBJECTIVE D:
Contribute to the preparation for human exploration of Mars by making significant progress towards filling at least one major Strategic Knowledge Gap (SKG). The highest priority SKG measurements that are synergistic with Mars 2020 science objectives and compatible with the mission concept are:
Demonstration of In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technologies to enable propellant and consumable oxygen production from the Martian atmosphere for future exploration missions.
Characterization of atmospheric dust size and morphology to understands its effects on the operation of surface systems and human health.
Surface weather measurements to validate global atmospheric models.
A set of engineering sensors embedded in the Mars 2020 heat shield and backshell to gather data on the aerothermal conditions, thermal protection system, and aerodynamic performance characteristics of the Mars 2020 entry vehicle during its entry and descent to the Mars surface.
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