MIT geologists remotely analyze samples collected by NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars. Gain new insights into the planet's ancient history.
In a world first, MIT scientists determined the orientation of NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover samples. It could help reveal why Mars no longer has flowing water.Since NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover touched down on the Red Planet in 2021, it has filled 20 of its 43 lightsaber-like sample tubes with Martian rock samples.
While we won’t have the full picture until the Mars Sample Return mission brings samples back to Earth at some point in the 2030s, the new analysis sheds new light on the planet’s ancient past. Earth and Space Science journal The team used data from the rover showing its positioning to estimate the orientation of each sample as it was drilled out of the Martian surface. According to a“There are so many science questions that rely on being able to know the orientation of the samples we’re bringing back from Mars,” study author Elias Mansbach, a graduate student in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, explained in the statement., believed to have once been a lake fed by flowing rivers.
To determine the orientation of each sample, the MIT team realized it had to measure three separate angles – the hade, azimuth, and roll. The hade is the tilt of the sample, the azimuth is the direction the sample is facing relative to true north, and the roll is how much the sample has to turn before returning to its original position. These are similar to the angles the rover calculates to collect the sample in the first place.
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