Perseverance’s future increasingly rocky road
Though nothing in any image so far from the Mars rover Perseverance matches the rocky terrain that the rover Curiosity has been traversing for the past two years as it climbs Mount Sharp in Gale Crater, as Perseverance has been climbing up the rim of Jezero Crater in the past few weeks it is beginning to get a hint of a future rougher road.
The photo to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here and taken on October 20, 2024 by one of the rover’s high resolution cameras, is a good example. It looks uphill in the direction that the rover will travel. Note how as you go higher the ground appears to be more strewn with rocks and boulders. Another image, taken the same day by the rover’s high resolution camera, shows a close-up of an even more boulder-covered landscape.
The blue dot on the overview map on the right marks Perseverance’s approximate present position (the science team has not yet updated its interactive map to show the travels for the past two Martian days). The yellow lines in the inset show the approximate area covered by the picture above.
The white dotted line is Perseverance’s past travels, while the red dotted line indicates the various potential routes in the future, as the science team sends the rover out beyond Jezero Crater into the very rough mountainous terrain to the west. That terrain is believed to be rich in minerals and thus potentially a major mining region on Mars. Getting there and gathering data therefore is quite important, not only to untangle the geological history of the red planet but to provide valuable information for future colonists.
The exact route however remains undetermined. I expect the science team will make its choices as it gets closer to each fork in the planned route. We also should not be surprised if they send the rover in different directions, as they climb and see targets of interest not on the planned route.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Though nothing in any image so far from the Mars rover Perseverance matches the rocky terrain that the rover Curiosity has been traversing for the past two years as it climbs Mount Sharp in Gale Crater, as Perseverance has been climbing up the rim of Jezero Crater in the past few weeks it is beginning to get a hint of a future rougher road.
The photo to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here and taken on October 20, 2024 by one of the rover’s high resolution cameras, is a good example. It looks uphill in the direction that the rover will travel. Note how as you go higher the ground appears to be more strewn with rocks and boulders. Another image, taken the same day by the rover’s high resolution camera, shows a close-up of an even more boulder-covered landscape.
The blue dot on the overview map on the right marks Perseverance’s approximate present position (the science team has not yet updated its interactive map to show the travels for the past two Martian days). The yellow lines in the inset show the approximate area covered by the picture above.
The white dotted line is Perseverance’s past travels, while the red dotted line indicates the various potential routes in the future, as the science team sends the rover out beyond Jezero Crater into the very rough mountainous terrain to the west. That terrain is believed to be rich in minerals and thus potentially a major mining region on Mars. Getting there and gathering data therefore is quite important, not only to untangle the geological history of the red planet but to provide valuable information for future colonists.
The exact route however remains undetermined. I expect the science team will make its choices as it gets closer to each fork in the planned route. We also should not be surprised if they send the rover in different directions, as they climb and see targets of interest not on the planned route.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Are there plans to investigate the Stegosaurus in left center? It seems worth a look.
Ha!
Just behind the red flower?
There is a square box in the center top, treasure chest? Lost luggage?