(ORDO NEWS) — NASA‘s Perseverance rover is busy exploring the Ezero crater on Mars. Part of its mission is to collect samples for later return to Earth. NASA and ESA have not yet determined where the sample return mission will land.
It depends on the Perseverance mission and how she spends her remaining time on Mars. But we do know of one possible, albeit ambitious, landing site: west of Ezero Crater.
If intellectual curiosity about nature is one of the best traits of mankind, then the people associated with the operation of the HiRISE camera have serious problems. HiRISE is a High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
A recent HiPOD or HiRISE Picture of the Day shows a possible landing site for a possible sample return mission from Mars.
The fact is that the site is far outside the Ezero Crater, and it is based on a “hopeful scenario,” according to the mission team.
“This image was taken based on an encouraging scenario in which the Perseverance rover will receive an extended mission and travel outside of Ezero Crater to survey the area to the west,” the report said. “In that case, a decision could be made to land the Mars Sample Return (MSR) rover here to collect the samples collected by Perseverance.”
Scientists have paved the way for the Perseverance rover. The high-resolution imagery was critical in evaluating potential landing sites for the mission. The instrument on the MRO has also been instrumental in determining and mapping the concentrations of various minerals on the Martian surface.
He discovered carbonate minerals in the Esero crater, which are especially interesting because they form in the presence of water. Initially, scientists thought they were formed in an ancient paleolake within Ezero, but recent research suggests that the carbonates formed elsewhere and were carried to Ezero by the river. The possible landing site of the MSR in the image is upstream of the Ezero crater.
At the moment, Perseverance has been on Mars for more than 400 Earth days, and the planned duration of its mission is 687 Earth days.
But rovers have a habit of extending their missions. The Perseverance batteries should provide enough power to extend the mission, and the rover is in good condition. There is a possibility that he will be able to leave the Ezero Crater and head west to explore interesting areas.
The entire rover mission is a series of calculated risks, and so far the calculations have been solid. If there are good enough reasons to leave Ezero behind and explore nearby areas of interest, perhaps the mission operators will do so.
In this case, the region marked on the HiPOD image could well be used as a landing site for the Mars Sample Return.
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