{"id":780216,"date":"2024-04-04T12:40:05","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T17:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=780216"},"modified":"2024-04-04T12:40:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T17:40:05","slug":"perseverance-finds-its-dream-rock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=780216","title":{"rendered":"Perseverance Finds its Dream Rock"},"content":{"rendered":"


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If there\u2019s a Holy Grail on Mars, it\u2019s probably a specific type of rock: A rock so important that it holds convincing clues to Mars\u2019 ancient habitability.<\/p>\n

Perseverance might have just found it. <\/p>\n

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If scientists could design the perfect rock for Perseverance to find, it would be one that displayed evidence of ancient water and was the type that preserves ancient organic material. The rover may have found it as it explores the Margin Unit, a geologic region on the inner edge of Jezero Crater\u2019s rim. The Margin Unit was one of the reasons Jezero Crater was selected for Perseverance\u2019s mission. <\/p>\n

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\u201cTo put it simply, this is the kind of rock we had hoped to find when we decided to investigate Jezero Crater.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ken Farley, Perseverance project scientist, Caltech.<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

The Margin Unit is in a narrow band along the crater\u2019s western rim. Orbital observations showed that it\u2019s one of the most carbonate-rich regions on the planet. \u201cIts presence, along with the adjacent fluvial delta, made Jezero crater the most compelling landing site for the Mars 2020 <Perseverance> mission,\u201d presenters at the 2024 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference wrote. <\/p>\n

The Margin Unit lies near the western rim of Jezero Crater. White dots show Perseverance\u2019s stopping points, and the blue line shows the rover\u2019s future route. Image Credit: R.C. Wiens et al. 2024<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The decision to send Perseverance to the Jezero Crater and the Margin Unit seems to be paying off. Bunsen Peak caught scientists\u2019 attention because it stands tall compared to its surroundings. One of the rock\u2019s faces also has an interesting texture. Scientists thought the rock would allow for nice cross-sections, and since it stood vertically, there\u2019d be less dust when working on it. Surface dust is a problem for Perseverance because it can obscure the rock\u2019s chemistry.<\/p>\n

The Perseverance team decided to sample it and cache the sample along with the rest of its cores for eventual return to Earth. But first, they scanned the rock\u2019s surface with SuperCam and PIXL, the rover\u2019s spectrometers. Then, they abraded the rock\u2019s surface and scanned it again. The results show that Bunsen Peak is 75% carbonate grains cemented together by nearly pure silica. <\/p>\n

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This image mosaic shows the Bunsen Peak rock that has ignited scientists\u2019 excitement. The rover abraded a circular patch to test its composition and extracted a core sample for return to Earth. The lighter surfaces are dust-covered, so Perseverance avoided those areas as the dust can obscure the rock\u2019s chemistry from the rover\u2019s instruments. Image Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/MSSS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cTo put it simply, this is the kind of rock we had hoped to find when we decided to investigate Jezero Crater,\u201d said Ken Farley, project scientist for Perseverance at Caltech in Pasadena, California. \u201cNearly all the minerals in the rock we just sampled were made in water; on Earth, water-deposited minerals are often good at trapping and preserving ancient organic material and biosignatures. The rock can even tell us about Mars\u2019s climate conditions that were present when it was formed.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This image shows the bottom of the Bunsen Peak sample core. The sample contains about 75% carbonate minerals cemented by almost pure silica. Image Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here on our planet, carbonate minerals can form directly around microbe cells. Once encapsulated, the cells can quickly become fossils, and are preserved for a long time. This is what happened to stromatolites here on Earth, and they now constitute some of the earliest evidence of life on our planet. <\/p>\n

These minerals are a high priority for return to Earth. This sample is number 24, named Comet Geyser, because everything gets a name when you intend to transport it to Earth from another planet. <\/p>\n

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