Perseverance Mars rover marks a year on red planet – New York Post

Friday, February 18th marked the first anniversary ofNASAsPerseverance roversMarslanding.

The rover first touched down in the planets Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021.

The Mars 2020 missionlaunchedJuly 30, 2020, from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Since then, NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)noted in a statement, it has racked up a series of accomplishments, including new distance records.

The2,263-pound robotic geologistcollected the first rock core samples from anotherplanet, tested the first prototype oxygen generator on Mars and deployed Ingenuity, the first robotic helicopter to take off on another planet.

According to the agency, Percy also recently broke a record for the most distance driven by a Mars rover in a single day, traveling almost 1,050 feet using its AutoNav software on Feb. 14.

Perseverance which carried the most cameras ever sent to Mars has nearly wrapped up its firstsciencecampaign in the crater, which contained a lake billions of years ago.

It is currently gathering rock cores from the crater floor the first step in theMars Sample Return campaign.

Two more samples will be collected in the coming weeks that scientists believe could provide an age range for Jezeros formation and lake.

The samples Perseverance has been collecting will provide a key chronology for the formation of Jezero Crater, Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASAs Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement. Each one is carefully considered for its scientific value.

Perseverances journey has run into a couple of snags thus far.

Itsfirst attemptat drilling a rock core was unsuccessful and somepebbleshindered progress last month.

In subsequent missions in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), NASA would send spacecraft to Mars to collect the sealed samples and return them to Earth.

A key objective for the Perseverance mission is astrobiology and the hunt for signs of ancient microbial life.

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Perseverance Mars rover marks a year on red planet - New York Post