Abigail Allwood Doing Mars Rover Astrobiology Fieldwork in Greenland – Astrobiology – Astrobiology News

Abigail Allwood (second from left), principal investigator of the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) aboard NASAs Perseverance Mars rover, is seen here examining rocks at a site in Greenland. Allwood is a scientist based at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. (2021) NASA

A key objective for Perseverances 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 (broken rock and dust).

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.

Date Created:2021-06-14 NASA ID: PIA24668 Larger image

Astrobiology

Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, NaVi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him)

Continue reading here:

Abigail Allwood Doing Mars Rover Astrobiology Fieldwork in Greenland - Astrobiology - Astrobiology News