We live in a truly exciting time for lovers of space exploration.
The rover Perseverance keep doing an amazing job millions of kilometers from Earth and he never ceases to amaze locals and strangers alike with his encounters and photographs, which offer us an up-to-date view of the state of the red planet’s surface. The NASA is clear about its plans to put humans on Mars and the first of them go through accumulating enough rock samples, which will be analyzed in the next decade on Earth. In the meantime, We are observing curiosities that could give us clues about the composition of Mars.
Image of a Martian rock with an unknown material inside. Twitter
Perseverance continues to collect Martian samples for future analysis on Earth
Recently, as you can see in the He protects Perseverance that we show you under these lines, we have been able to know a curious sandstone formationwhose shape, in a first impression, surprises those who see it, although it is only part of the surface treatment process What does the rover do using the abrasion tool that he carries with him Nothing to do with alien formations. In this case, the rounded geometry is Perseverance’s fault, in his attempt to show more details of the composition of the martian soilwhich in this case appears to include a different material under the rock shown.
Do I geek out about cool-looking sandstone? You bet.
A shallow scouring with my drill’s abrasion bit shows this rock has veins of lighter material inside. Could it hold clues about ancient life? Time for more #SamplingMars.
More on “Yori Pass”: https://t.co/raefWPc9JZ pic.twitter.com/glecOQ49wk
— NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) November 17, 2022
The rover is currently in the Jezero crater, specifically in a region called Yori Pass, which is nothing more than a delta of the famous crater. Since it seems likely that this place was covered in water in the past, it is a really important region in which to collect rock samples. Just like her own NASA has stated on its website:
The discovery is so enticing to scientists, because it is sandstone, which is made up of fine grains that have been transported from somewhere else through water before settling and forming rock.
One of the big goals of the passage of rover by the Martian surface is reveal the existence of biosignatures in these rocks, something that is defined as ‘any feature, element, molecule, substance or aspect that can serve as evidence of ancient life’. It does not seem that, for the moment, we are going to obtain conclusive answers, at least not until the Mars Sample Return mission, from which we have shown you its epic trailer, be terminated. Even so, the rover’s optimism is reassuring. He himself has published, understand NASA’s game giving life to the rover, that:
A superficial exploration with the abrasion drill shows that this rock has veins of light material within it. Could it contain clues to ancient life?