Mars: Perseverance explores Yori Pass. Updates on Mars Sample Return

The exploration and search for eligible samples continues on Mars by the Perseverance rover, which has just recently begun to take a closer look at a very promising area in optical specimen research to bring back to Earth. And precisely in this regard, NASA has published a new video which aims to better show cHow the Mars Sample Return recovery mission will take place.

Let’s start with the latest movements affecting the Jezero crater area, where the Perseverance rover continues to move.

We are still in the vicinity of the ancient river delta, an area full of potential objectives, which this time sees a particular interest in Yori Pass. This is the name given to the area located near the base of the formation, and in reality NASA had been anxious to explore the region for several months already, since during an initial passage a rock similar to the one that Perseverance drilled last July was identified to collect a sample last July.

Why so much interest? It’s so appealing to scientists because the rock area (seen in the header) is composed of sandstone, formed over millennia from fine grains that were transported by water before settling, compacting, and forming stone. Here are the words of Katie Stack Morgan, deputy scientist of the Perseverance project at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

We often prioritize the study of fine-grained sedimentary rocks like this in our search for organics and potential biological signatures. What’s particularly interesting about the Yori Pass outcrop is that laterally it is equivalent to ‘Hogwallow Flats’, where we found very fine-grained sedimentary rocks. This means that the rock bed is at the same height as the Hogwallow and has a large traceable footprint visible on the surface.

Hunting for biosignatures inside the Jezero crater is one of the four scientific goals of the Perseverance rover. For now, there are a total of 14 rock samples protected inside the rover and after identifying the best rock in Yori Pass where to drill, Perseverance will move southeast for about 227 meters, until it reaches a mega ripple of sand located in the middle of a small dune field. The ripple, called Observation Mountain, will be where the rover collects its first samples of regolith, or crushed rock mixed with dust.

On the occasion of the arrival at Yori Pass and the developments currently underway, NASA wanted to publish new content on its YouTube channel linked precisely to the sample recovery mission. According to the video, NASA will rely on the spacecraft created to bring back samples and which he has repeatedly mentioned in the past.

The Mars Sample Return mission could start from Earth in 2028 and end with the return in 2032, but there is already the risk that China could arrive at the result first. As for the NASA project, it will be very complex and will require the sending of 3 separate vehicles to complete the operation, namely a rover, a lander and an ascent vehicle called the Mars Ascent Vehicle, which will include a compact launch platform for the restart from Mars. But that is not all, there is also talk of new drones derived from the experience of Ingenuityas we will see better later.

The development is currently in progress and the JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) of NASA is taking care of it, in whose laboratories the most innovative aerospace means (such as Perseverance and Ingenuity) are taken. But for more details on the Mars Sample Return mission we have created a special that we invite you to read.

The operation will be the first of its kind and will allow for the first time scientists to hold in their hands some rocks extracted from another planet, potentially interesting in terms of geological study and search for signs of vital activity, present or past. In fact we already have material from the red planet at our disposal, as Martian meteorites have fallen to Earth several times in the history, however these rocks have spent millions or even billions of years in space and have been completely altered by time and radiation. Meteorites from Mars are also immediately contaminated when they hit our planet, making it difficult to look for signs of Red Planet microorganisms.

Here is the video uploaded by NASA recently, with the sequence planned for the Mars Sample Return mission.

Ingenuity is still in excellent health, however the Martian winter has forced NASA to keep the Martian helicopter stationary to lengthen its life and no new flights have been recorded since the last dated September 24, i.e. flight number 33. But in the last days the future of this technology was also discussedso profitable that NASA is already working on new solutions of this kind for future space exploration trips.

Ingenuity’s success led to NASA’s decision to port two Ingenuity-class helicopters on the Mars Sample Retrieval Landerwhich, as we saw above, is expected to be sent towards the end of this decade.

These sample retrieval helicopters, with wheels for feet and a small manipulator arm with a two-finger gripper, will transport, as needed, valuable test tubes from a sample repository to the Mars ascent vehicle for launch to Earth. Also an Most capable Mars Science Helicopter with the ability to carry nearly 5 kg of science payloads is in the early conceptual and design stages.