The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced that its Perseverance rover has reached an ancient river delta as it continues its mission on Mars.
The said river delta is located on the floor of the Red Planet's Jezero Crater. The Mars rover is expected to look for evidence of past microscopic life while in the area. Samples collected by the Perseverance will be sent back to Earth.
NASA's Perseverance Rover Arrives at Ancient River Delta
NASA Perseverance rover celebrated its first anniversary on Mars!
NASA's Perseverance rover has reached an important milestone as the space agency has announced that it has arrived at an ancient river delta on Mars. The river delta is located in the Jezero Crater
"Dubbed 'Three Forks' by the Perseverance team (a reference to the spot where three route options to the delta merge), the location serves as the staging area for the rover's second science expedition, the 'Delta Front Campaign,'" reads the the statement posted on the official website of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA JPL).
Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's associate administrator of its Science Mission Directorate in Washington, says in the same statement that this particular Jezero Crater river delta is one of the best locations on the Red Planet to look for any evidence of past microscopic life.
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The Delta Front Campaign
As previously mentioned, the Perseverance Rover's arrival at the river delta is part of its second science expedition called the Delta Front Camapign. According to NASA JPL, the campaign officially started on April 18.
A report by Space states that the Mars rover will spend the next week exploring a certain area of the river delta. Available data suggests that the deposits that the Perseverance is meant to focus on is located around 130 feet above the crater floor.
Two route options are being considered for the the Perseverance to take. The first of which is a region known as "Hawksbill Gap," which the report says can be reached within a shorter amount of time. Should that route not be as safe for the Mars rover to take, it may opt to take the second route option known as "Cape Nukshak."
The Mars Sample Return Campaign
So what exactly is the Perseverance rover meant to do at the river delta?
According to NASA JPL, "Using a drill on the end of its robotic arm and a complex sample collection system, Perseverance is gathering rock cores for return to Earth."
In fact, this is the first part of another one of the space agency's campaigns, which is known as the Mars Sample Return campaign. NASA is intending to launch the campaign sometime later in the decade along with European Space Agency (ESA), per the report by Space.
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