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This image provided by NASA shows a selfie of their Perseverance Mars rover on July 23, 2024. The image is created by stitching together 62 separate images. Photo: NASA via AP
NASA’s Perseverance rover is facing a new challenge on Mars. This six-wheeled rover has been roaming at the bottom of a crater for the last three and a half years. On Tuesday (August 27, 2024), it started climbing upwards.
The rover will travel 1,000 feet (305 meters) up to the edge of Jezero Crater to dig up rock samples. Since landing on the Red Planet in 2021, Perseverance has collected 22 rock core samples from the floor of the crater, which was once filled with water.
The rover’s samples could help scientists understand what the planet’s climate was like billions of years ago – and even figure out if there was any life lurking on ancient Mars. NASA is looking for ways to bring the rock samples back to Earth.
Steven Lee of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California said the rock on the crater’s rim could hold clues to how rocky planets like Mars and Earth formed.
But the road ahead will not be easy. During this months-long journey, Perseverance will have to cross rocky terrain and slopes of up to 23 degrees.
“Perseverance has definitely been a real warrior,” Li said. The rover has traveled about 29 kilometers during its exploration.
The rock at the top of the crater may have come from past hydrothermal vents – places where hot water and dissolved minerals spewed out from beneath the planet’s surface. On Earth, similar places – such as Yellowstone National Park – are thought to be cradles of life.
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