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Jezero Crater on Mars: Perseverance Rover

NASA’s Perseverance rover:

NASA’s Perseverance rover is exploring the Jezero Crater on Mars and attempting to collect its first rock samples.

  • However, no rock samples were collected during the first attempt.

About Perseverance Rover:

  • It was launched in 2020 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V.
  • It carried a unique instrument, MOXIE or Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment: which for the first time manufactured molecular oxygen on Mars using carbon dioxide from the carbon-dioxide-rich atmosphere (ISRU means In Situ Resource Utilization: or the use of local resources to meet human needs or requirements of the spacecraft).
  • It carried Ingenuity, the first ever helicopter to fly on Mars.
  • It is the planned first step to bring back rock samples from Mars for analysis in sophisticated laboratories on Earth: with the goal of looking for biosignatures: or signatures of present or past life.

Mission objectives:

  • Look for signs of ancient microbial life.
  • Collect Martian rock and dust samples for later return to Earth.
  • Deliver an experimental helicopter.
  • Study the climate and geology of Mars.
  • Demonstrate technology for future Mars missions.