Hannah Grace Science 02.19.2022 01:Feb AM EST

NASA Perseverance Celebrates One Year Anniversary on Mars, Will Continue To Collect Samples in Coming Weeks

The Perseverance rover celebrated its first anniversary on Mars!

After celebrating its anniversary, the rover will continue to work on collecting samples in the coming weeks.

NASA Perseverance Celebrates Anniversary On Mars

Last Feb. 182021, the Perseverance rover of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) made its landing on the Jezero Crater in Mars. Since then, the said rover has discovered numerous surprising things about the Martian planet.

According to NASA, this rover has three planned research campaigns such as "testing a method for producing oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, identifying other resources (such as subsurface water), improving landing techniques, and characterizing weather, dust, and other potential environmental conditions that could affect future astronauts living and working on Mars."

As it nears the completion of the first of three planned research campaigns on Mars, the rover has had numerous achievements, including new distance records.

To elaboration, one of the said ending science campaigns is the one in the Jezero Crater, which is said to have once contained a lake billions of years ago.

The crater now features some of the previously studied Martian rocks. To look for ancient microscopic life, NASA stated that these rocks are prime locations to examine since it has preserved environments that once hosted water.

The rover which weighs roughly 1 ton (1,025 kilograms) is considered the heaviest rover that landed on Mars.

In another report from NASA, the space agency also added that the rover collected its first rock core samples from Mars. Ingenuity also used this rover as "an indispensable base station for Ingenuity, the first helicopter on Mars, and tested MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment)."

For those wondering, MOXIE is the first prototype oxygen generator on Mars.

Before its anniversary, NASA Perseverance set a new record for the most distance driven by a Mars rover in a single day. Specifically, the rover traveled almost 1,050 feet (320 meters) on Feb. 14, which is the 351st Martian day.

While traveling, the Martian rover used AutoNav, which is a self-driving software that helps the six-wheeled rover to navigate past rocks and other obstacles on its own.

NASA Perseverance Will Continue To Collect Samples in Coming Weeks

After celebrating NASA Perseverance's anniversary, the unmanned rover will collect two more samples in the coming weeks.

Tthese rocks are from the "Ch'ał" rock type, which was named after the Navajo term for "frog." This type of rock is a group of dark, rubbly boulders that can be found throughout most of the crater floor.

Furthermore, scientists believe that if these rocks were returned to Earth, it could provide some details about the age range of Jezero's formation. Aside from this, it is also expected to reveal information about the lake that once resided there.

Impact craters are said to be able to help scientists discover the age of a planet or the Moon's surface. The space agency further explained that impact craters of varied sizes have built up over time on older surfaces. By examining Apollo lunar samples, scientists were able to improve their estimations for the Moon.