Follow Mars rover’s 18-mile trip in NASA’s animated route map

NASA has shared a fascinating animation showing nan way taken by nan Perseverance rover connected Mars since its presence location successful February 2021.

Perseverance is NASA’s astir precocious Mars rover to date, and while its wide routes are decided by a squad astatine NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory successful Southern California, nan rover really moves guardant autonomously, checking for hazards and moving astir immoderate problematic objects arsenic it goes.

The animation covers nan full 18.7 miles (about 30 kilometers) traveled by Perseverance complete nan past 44 months, and includes nan locations wherever it’s been collecting samples of Mars stone and soil.

Those samples will beryllium returned to Earth successful nan coming years truthful that scientists tin study them successful laboratory conditions to effort to find whether microbial life ever existed connected nan reddish planet.

Most of Perseverance’s travels person taken spot wrong Jezero Crater, a spot erstwhile filled pinch h2o and which scientists judge has nan champion chance of containing grounds of ancient life.

In caller months, however, Perseverance has embarked connected a challenging climb up nan broadside of nan crater and is now tackling its steepest inclines to date.

Because overmuch of nan worldly it’s presently driving complete comprises loosely packed particulate and soil pinch a thin, brittle crust, Perseverance has precocious been slipping a batch and has covered only astir 50% of nan region that it would person managed connected a much unchangeable surface. On 1 occasion, it managed only 20% of nan planned route.

“Mars rovers person driven complete steeper terrain, and they’ve driven complete much slippery terrain, but this is nan first clip 1 had to grip both, and connected this scale,” said JPL’s Camden Miller, who is simply a rover planner, aliases “driver,” connected nan Perseverance mission. “For each 2 steps guardant Perseverance takes, we were taking astatine slightest 1 measurement back. The rover planners saw this was trending toward a long, difficult slog, truthful we sewage together to deliberation up immoderate options.”

The squad utilized a replica rover connected Earth to trial retired immoderate caller maneuvers aimed astatine reducing slippage, and besides considered replacement routes featuring different terrain. Assessing nan data, nan planners settled connected altering nan route, and Perseverance is continuing connected its measurement astatine a dependable pace.

“That’s nan scheme correct now, but we whitethorn person to alteration things up nan road,” Miller said. “No Mars rover ngo has tried to climb up a upland this big, this fast. The subject squad wants to get to nan apical of nan crater rim arsenic soon arsenic imaginable because of nan technological opportunities up there. It’s up to america rover planners to fig retired a measurement to get them there.”

Those opportunities see entree to rocks from nan astir ancient crust of Mars that were formed from a wealthiness of different processes. Rocks location person ne'er been analyzed adjacent up before, and they could perchance see erstwhile habitable environments.