Arriving At Ancient River Delta, Perseverance Will Dredge Fossils Of Life On Planet Mars

NASA's rover Perseverance has arrived safely at the remains of the ancient Mars delta river. (photo: Doc. NASA Perseverance)

JAKARTA - After a long journey, NASA's rover Perseverance has finally arrived safely at the remnants of the ancient Mars delta river on the floor of the 28-mile-wide (45-kilometer) Jezero Crater.

The Perseverance team on Earth say the location of the delta will be a true geological search ground for the robot, which is hunting for signs of fossil life on the Red Planet.

NASA explains, river deltas are large fan-shaped collections of rock and sediment that formed at the confluence of rivers and crater lakes billions of years ago.

"The delta at Jezero Crater promises a true geological feast and one of the best locations on Mars to look for signs of past microscopic life. The answers are out there, and Team Perseverance is ready to find them," said an associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. , Thomas Zurbuchen.

Now that Perseverance is in the region, he will head to the highlands above the delta, where he will conduct a detailed scientific investigation. NASA says astrobiology is a key goal of the Perseverance mission, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life.

"We've been observing the delta for more than a year, and will be looking for signs of ancient life in the rocks at the bottom of the delta, rocks that we thought were mud at the bottom of Lake Jezero," said Perseverance project scientist Ken Farley.

For information, Perseverance has landed in February 2021 inside the Jezero Crater, which scientists say is a lake and river delta mission that was active billions of years ago as a host on the planet.

Such conditions should harbor microbes, meaning the delta region is a rich area to look for signs of Martian life, if there ever was one.

The rover worked somewhat south and west of its landing site during its first year (Earth) on Mars, but has recently made it back through the landing area to reach the delta.

Arriving in the delta, Perseverance will spend the next week or so driving west to figure out how to best explore this patch of the delta, and the team is considering two route options.

The preferred route, at least for now, is through the area dubbed the Hawksbill Gap, as it appears to be achievable in less time. But a backup option, Cape Nukshak is available if data in the coming days suggests it's a safer route.

Meanwhile, Perseverance will spend about six months taking eight samples during this maneuvering campaign, called Delta Front.

The plan then calls for the rover to go over the delta again, perhaps taking a backup option to sample untraveled territory, to spend another six months on the Top Delta Campaign.

Finally, the robot will also try to collect shards of sand and rock from upstream, in areas that the rover would not expect to visit during its lifetime on Mars.