NASA rover collects samples of youngest rock on Mars [여기는 화성]

Space science media Space.com reported on the 4th (local time) that NASA’s Mars exploration rover ‘Perseverance’ recently collected the youngest rock samples from the ancient lake area of ​​Jezero Crater.

Jezero Crater, where the Perseverance Rover first landed on Mars last February, is an ancient lake area with traces of a large amount of water inflow. Last month, the exploration rover collected 23 Martian rock samples from this site.

Mars exploration rover ‘Perseverance’ (Photo = NASA)

The video recently released by NASA is the 21st sample collected here by the Perseverance rover. NASA estimates that this sample is a young rock with the shortest preservation period among the samples collected so far.

“Mars, like Earth, has an environment that evolves and changes over time, so it is important to compare rocks of different ages,” NASA researchers said. “Therefore, if we obtain the youngest samples from Jezero Crater, “We can see how the situation on the planet has changed,” he said.

NASA’s Perseverance rover collected young rock samples from Jezero Crater. (Video = NASA)

Stephen Scholes, a researcher on the Perseverance operations team, explained that since the rover’s Mars exploration was in the planning stages, they had wanted to collect young rock samples that could reveal the geological history of Mars. Newerty Mars Helicopter showed interesting photos of rocks taken in an area called ‘Dream Lake’, and later announced that they had decided to explore this area.

He revealed that he discovered something interesting after removing the upper layer of rock from the Dream Lake area. He added: “We saw something like large green glassy particles that had never been seen in sedimentary rocks before. This is one of the youngest materials we are seeing.”

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Samples collected on Mars will be brought to Earth and analyzed. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) plan to bring Mars samples to Earth in 2033 using the Earth Return Orbiter, launched in 2027.

If this sample returns to Earth, it will not only reveal the geological secrets of Mars, but will also be the key to revealing how Mars, which was once overflowing with water like Earth, changed into the dry planet it is now. Additionally, the media reported that the possibility that it contains traces of ancient microorganisms that once existed on Mars cannot be ruled out.