SHERLOC Instruments Help Perseverance Explore Mars

Cheyava Falls rock portrait from SHERLOC (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA While exploring the planet Mars, Perseverance does not work alone. This NASA-owned rover requires several instruments to observe rock, one of which is a camera called SHERLOC.

SHERLOC, abbreviation of Huni Decent Environment Scan with Raman and Luminescence for Organic and Chemical Materials, is an instrument for observing environmental conditions. This instrument is mounted on the arms of the Perseverance robot.

With a combination of cameras, spectrometers, and lasers, this instrument is capable of looking for organic materials and minerals that change due to aqueous environments or have signs of microbial life. Therefore, this instrument is very important for Perseverance.

SHERLOC had problems in January this year. Its motor parts were damaged so that the dust cover and autofocus mechanism did not work properly. This problem needs to be addressed quickly so that Raman spectroscopy is not damaged and its performance is not disrupted.

"Although Mars has pose an unexpected challenge, members of the SHERLOC operating team in collaboration with rover engineers have refused to give up," NASA said, quoted from its official blog.

Two months later, the dust cover slowly opened and the SHERLOC team began looking for ways to focus optics and operate the SHERLOC in an open dust cover state. This effort takes several months.

NASA conducted many experiments on diagnostic examinations, analysis, and problem solving and failed many. However, the team managed to restart the SHERLOC instrument in June of its ability to improve in July.

Now, the instrument helps Perseverance in exploring new areas, namely the edge of Jezero Crater. Raman was also able to perform several calibrations, scans, and observations on the rock named Cheyava Falls.

"This is an important and interesting point in Mars and astrobiology exploration. When dealing with and addressing the problems SHERLOC is experiencing, we find that exploring Mars can also lead to the discovery of persistence," NASA said.