Perseverance rover captures stunning images of Mars's floating morning clouds
On World Meteorological Day, at least one interplanetary weather report was released.
While taking a little pause from its continuous hunt for evidence of ancient Mars life, NASA's Perseverance rover captured images of floating predawn clouds on the Red Planet. Although Mars is a dry and dusty planet now, water likely flowed and gathered in numerous locations on its surface billions of years ago, creating a suitable habitat for bacteria.
The fresh cloud photos, which were made public by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory today (March 23), were shot on March 18 just before Martian sunrise using one of the rover's navigation cameras. That was the 738th Martian day, or sol, of Perseverance's mission. A sol lasts slightly longer than an Earth day (24 hours, 37 minutes).
Nevertheless, in order to better understand Martian clouds, which are composed of carbon dioxide, or dry ice, NASA launched a citizen science initiative last year. According to authorities at the time, cloud analysis offers a window into the conditions in the planet's middle atmosphere, which is located between 50 and 80 kilometres (or 30 and 50 miles) above the surface.
Mission authorities announced Monday (opens in new tab) that Perseverance recently arrived at a new location known as "Berea," where it is going to further examine a fascinating layered rock (March 22). Ingenuity, a small helicopter, and Perseverance are exploring an old river delta in Jezero Crater that may have been home to prehistoric life. In the upcoming days or weeks, Ingenuity will probably operate 50 trips, which is ten times its initial manifest.
The European Space Agency and NASA are working together on Perseverance to collect materials for a potential return to Earth. But, the specifics of that campaign's design are still being worked out. According to the basic plan, which was unveiled last year, Perseverance would transfer its samples to a rocket-equipped lander that would travel towards Mars in 2028. The lightsaber-shaped sample tubes that Perseverance has left on the surface as a backup will be picked up by two little helicopters on the lander if the rover is unable to accomplish that.
But now, according to a live-streamed town hall meeting conducted earlier today to discuss ongoing NASA fiscal 2024 budget deliberations, the Science Mission Directorate is contemplating alternatives to lower the cost, such as having just one helicopter ride atop the lander in 2028.
On our own planet, March 23 is observed as World Meteorological Day in remembrance of the date the World Meteorological Organization was established in 1950. Recent warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reiterate the severe implications of human indifference to the dangers of global warming.
