The Perseverance probe of the United States NASA's Perseverance probe safely landed in the Jezero crater on Mars at around 4:55 am on February 19, 2021. It has been a year and a half since landing on Mars . It has been successfully converted into carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere into oxygen in April 2021, setting history, and some incredible images were also taken during this period. However, a newly photographed panoramic image taken by Perseverance is the most detailed image ever. It consists of more than 1,000 independent images, showing the most detailed Martian landscape captured from the surface. Let’s enjoy the appearance of Mars.
"Perseverance" used its Mastcam-Z camera system to shoot in an ancient delta of the crater crater crater crater formed by a river that flowed into the crater lake about 3.5 billion years ago, which deposited mud and sand on the ground of the crater. The camera system took no less than 1118 individual images in total, and by stitching these together, a color-enhanced 2.5 million pixel mosaic was formed.
Through the image we can see the footprints of the wanderer, which is where it rolls into the crater. In front of it is a rock cliff about 10 meters. The jagged shape on the rock shows that it has existed for billions of years and has been eroded by the wind. Scientists believe that these rocks are some of the finest particles in the delta region, and therefore are a good place to find life. As part of its scientific operations in the region, Perseverance is drilling the rocks to analyze their chemistry and mineralogy. Organic substances were found in the rock
. Scientists found a rock called Wildcat Ridge in the Ancient River Delta region of the Jezero Crater and successfully collected two samples from the rock. And the discovery of exciting organic molecules (called aromatic hydrocarbons) in the samples is a potential biological feature. NASA scientists believe that matter or structure may be evidence of past life, but may also arise in the absence of life. The single discovery of organic matter cannot prove the existence of ancient life on Mars. The previous "Curiosity" once discovered the existence of the organic molecule in the Gale crater.
But in the analysis of Wildcat Ridge rocks, the instrument recorded the richest organic matter detection results to date. Scientists on the project analyzed: In the distant past, the sand, soil and salt in Wildcat Ridge rocks may have been deposited under conditions of life reproduction, and organic matter found in it, like ancient biological fossils on Earth, is of great significance. Of course, Perseverance does not have the ability to find evidence of ancient life on Mars. It is very difficult to establish evidence of life on another planet. In the future, these Martian rocks will need to be brought back and conducted close research and analysis in the Earth laboratory.
Currently, Perseverance collects 12 rock samples, and NASA has also prepared for the return of these samples. It is planned to send a lander to the surface of Mars, pick up the collected Martian samples, and send them back to Earth with a rocket. Of course, the complexity and importance of this plan are self-evident. If it can be carried out smoothly, it may be possible to achieve the plan by 2033.
Discovered the weird "cat bread stone"
During the collection of samples, the "Perseverance" detector also discovered the weird "cat bread stone" (the cat curled up in a ball of sitting, looking like bread), which looked like a chubby cat lying quietly on the ground. This is a visual effect presented by the combination of the shooting angle and the image. It is a utopian tromophobic phenomenon (the tendency to find familiar objects in random shapes). Before, "butt cracked stones" and "reclining aliens" were also discovered. At another angle or other times, it may look like an ordinary Martian rock.
"Perseverance" will continue to wander around the crater and explore. If there is water on Mars and evidence of the existence of ancient life can be found, it means that Mars was suitable for habitation in the past.This will be an important journey to find extraterrestrial life, and it will also bring the possibility of human livable Mars in the future. All of this has just begun and scientists still need to continue to explore and decrypt.
