NASA’s Perseverance rover is making groundbreaking discoveries on the rim of Jezero Crater, uncovering a treasure trove of diverse ancient rocks that may hold secrets to Mars’ past. Since January, the rover has collected core samples from five different rocks and sealed three of them in tubes for potential return to Earth.
The crater’s western rim features a mix of shattered, once-molten rocks blasted by ancient meteor impacts, alongside layered rocks formed on the surface billions of years ago. Perseverance has even found rocks shaped by water sitting next to ones that remained dry for most of their existence.
One of the oldest Martian samples yet was collected, dating back 3.9 billion years during Mars’ earliest geologic period. The rover’s coring drill extracted a rock sample called “Silver Mountain” from the Shallow Bay formation. Additionally, Perseverance has analyzed igneous minerals crystallized from magma deep in the Martian crust and found rocks containing serpentine minerals, which can support microbial communities.
However, sealing some of these samples proved to be an engineering challenge. The rover’s team had to use a special “flick maneuver” to clean the tube’s top opening before sealing it in place. Despite this, Perseverance has successfully sealed its third rim sample from the “Main River” rock.
The rover continues to explore Witch Hazel Hill, analyzing three more rocky outcrops and using all gathered data to decide where to collect the next sample. This marks a significant pace of scientific work since the rover landed on Mars over four years ago.
Source: https://scitechdaily.com/nasas-perseverance-mars-rover-hits-a-geologic-goldmine-at-jezero-crater-rim