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NASA's Mars Exploration Program (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Sol 0614: Reading the Ripples at Observation Mountain
The panorama is made up of 108 individual Mastcam-Z images stitched together. The images were taken on Sol 614 (Nov. 11, 2022).
After spending over 600 sols (days on Mars) exploring the diverse geologic environment of Jezero Crater, collecting drilled rock cores (and one atmospheric sample) along the way, Perseverance recently spent some time parked near a large sand ripple named “Observation Mountain,” with sights set on something widespread yet unique. Regolith is the sandy, dusty, loose material covering much of the Martian surface, and is made up of many small rock fragments – some of which are sourced from across the planet. Billions of years ago, lakes, rivers, and oceans flowed across Mars, but today, wind is the dominant force shaping the geologic landscape. Over time, rock breaks up into smaller pieces, then wind can carry and tumble those pieces long distances, depositing them in new locations, and even building ripples and massive dunes. Regolith is important for providing insight into the global and local Martian landscape, all in a single “grab bag.” Perseverance is equipped with a special bit to collect a sample of regolith for eventual return to Earth! The Mars 2020 science and engineering teams have spent the last week studying a large ripple at the base of the Jezero Delta that is a candidate for future regolith sampling. Hazcams, Navcams, and Mastcam-Z provided images that helped scientists choose which ripple to target, SuperCam and SHERLOC used their laser spectrometers to assess the mineralogy of regolith in the workspace, and PIXL queried the elemental composition of these rock fragments. The rover planners even used a “scuff” maneuver to scoot the wheel over a regolith pile, moving surface material out of the way so each of the instruments could take a look at rock fragments in the lower part of the regolith pile. So far, these observations have yielded important information about regolith on Mars, and the team is looking forward to collecting a grab bag sample and returning it to Earth, where scientists can continue studying this hodgepodge of Martian minerals right here at home!
Written by Denise Buckner, Student Collaborator at University of Florida A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover. Other panoramas of Mars by Perseverance rover:
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The planet Earth has proven to be too limiting for our awesome community of panorama photographers. We're getting an increasing number of submissions that depict locations either not on Earth (like Mars, the Moon, and Outer Space in general) or do not realistically represent a geographic location on Earth (either because they have too many special effects or are computer generated) and hence don't strictly qualify for our Panoramic World project.But many of these panoramas are extremely beautiful or popular of both.So, in order to accommodate our esteemed photographers and the huge audience that they attract to 360Cities with their panoramas, we've created a new section (we call it an "area") called "Out of this World" for panoramas like these.Don't let the fact that these panoramas are being placed at the Earth's South Pole fool you - we had to put them somewhere in order not to interfere with our Panoramic World.Welcome aboard on a journey "Out of this World".
