NASA’s Perseverance rover is set to face some of its toughest terrain yet on Mars, with an elevation gain of 1,000 feet expected to be completed by the end of the year. The rover will be comparing rocks on the crater rim with those on the floor and in other areas to better understand Mars’ landscape and geological history. Once it reaches the top, Perseverance will focus on two regions – Pico Turquino and Witch Hazel Hill. Pico Turquino has ancient fractures that may be evidence of past hydrothermal systems, potentially indicating conditions suitable for microbial life in the planet’s history. At Witch Hazel Hill, the rover will investigate layers of bedrock to learn about Mars’ climate over billions of years.
The findings from these regions are expected to provide insights into Mars’ geological evolution and ancient environments that have not been studied up close before. Perseverance, which launched in 2020 and landed in 2021, is part of the Mars Sample Return campaign, a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency. This mission is the first step in collecting samples from Mars, with plans for future missions to bring these samples back to Earth for further study.
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