Pasadena, CA On June 1st, NASAs Perseverance Mars rover kicked off the science phase of its mission by leaving the Octavia E. Butler landing site. Until recently, the rover has been undergoing systems tests, or commissioning, and supporting the Ingenuity Mars Helicopters month of flight tests.

During the first few weeks of this first science campaign, the mission team will drive to a low-lying scenic overlook from which the rover can survey some of the oldest geologic features in Jezero Crater, and theyll bring online the final capabilities of the rovers auto-navigation and sampling systems.

By the time Perseverance completed its commissioning phase on June 1st, the rover had already tested its oxygen-generating MOXIE instrument and conducted the technology demonstration flights of the Ingenuity helicopter. Its cameras had taken more than 75,000 images, and its microphones had recorded the first audio soundtracks of Mars.

We are putting the rovers commissioning phase as well as the landing site in our rearview mirror and hitting the road, said Jennifer Trosper, Perseverance project manager at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Over the next several months, Perseverance will be exploring a 1.5-square-mile [4-square-kilometer] patch of the crater floor. It is from this location that the first samples from another planet will be collected for return to Earth by a future mission, Trosper stated.

The science goals of the mission are to study the Jezero region in order to understand the geology and past habitability of the environment in the area, and to search for signs of ancient microscopic life. The team will identify and collect the most compelling rock and sediment samples, which a future mission could retrieve and bring back to Earth for more detailed study.

Perseverance will also take measurements and test technologies to support the future human and robotic exploration of Mars.

This image looking west toward the Stah geologic unit on Mars was taken from the height of 33 feet (10 meters) by NASAs Ingenuity Mars helicopter during its sixth flight, on May 22, 2021. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Spanning hundreds of sols (or Martian days), this first science campaign will pursue all of the missions science goals as the rover explores two unique geologic units in which Jezeros deepest (and most ancient) layers of exposed bedrock and other intriguing geologic features can be found.

The first unit, called the Crater Floor Fractured Rough, is the crater-filled floor of Jezero. The adjacent unit, named Stah (meaning amidst the sand in the Navajo language), has its fair share of Mars bedrock but is also home to ridges, layered rocks, and sand dunes.

To do justice to both units in the time allotted, the team came up with the Martian version of an old auto club-style map, said JPLs Kevin Hand, an astrobiologist and co-lead, along with Vivian Sun, of this science campaign. We have our route planned, complete with optional turnoffs and labeled areas of interest and potential obstructions in our path.

Most of the challenges along the way are expected to come in the form of sand dunes located within the mitten-shaped Stah unit. To negotiate them, the rover team decided Perseverance will drive mostly either on the Crater Floor Fractured Rough or along the boundary line between it and Stah. When the occasion calls for it, Perseverance will perform a toe dip into the Stah unit, making a beeline for a specific area of interest.

The goal of the campaign is to establish what four locations in these units best tell the story of Jezero Craters early environment and geologic history. When the science team decides a location is just right, they will collect one or two samples.

This annotated image of Jezero Crater depicts the routes for Perseverances first science campaign (yellow hash marks) as well as its second (light-yellow hash marks). (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

Starting with the Crater Floor Fractured Rough and Seitah geologic units allows us to start our exploration of Jezero at the very beginning, said Hand. This area was under at least 100 meters [328 feet] of water 3.8 billion years ago. We dont know what stories the rocks and layered outcrops will tell us, but were excited to get started.

The first science campaign will be complete when the rover returns to its landing site. At that point, Perseverance will have traveled between 1.6 and 3.1 miles (2.5 and 5 kilometers) and up to eight of Perseverances 43 sample tubes could be filled with Mars rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

Next, Perseverance will travel north then west toward the location of its second science campaign: Jezeros delta region. The delta is the fan-shaped remains of the confluence of an ancient river and a lake within Jezero Crater. The location may be especially rich in carbonates minerals that, on Earth, can preserve fossilized signs of ancient life and can be associated with biological processes.

From Sojourner to Spirit and Opportunity to Curiosity to Perseverance, Matt has played key roles in the design, construction, and operations of every Mars rover NASA has ever built, said Trosper. And while the project is losing a great leader and trusted friend, we know Matt will continue making great things happen for the planetary science community.

A key objective for NASAs Perseverance Mars Rovers mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planets geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASAs Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

For more about Perseverance:

mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/

nasa.gov/perseverance

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NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover heads south to search for Signs of Life in Jezero Crater's Lakebed - Clarksville, TN Online - Clarksville Online