![]() Ingenuity’s navigation software was designed to assume the vehicle was flying over flat terrain. This capability allows Ingenuity to safely land in rockier terrain than before, providing our pilots with many more potential landing sites. When preparing to land, Ingenuity will then divert over to this selected site. While in flight, Ingenuity will identify the safest visible landing site. Jezero Crater is a rocky place, so safe airfields have been tough to find! Using Ingenuity’s downward-facing navigation camera, this software update adds hazard avoidance on landing. In prior flights, Ingenuity’s pilots have needed to find airfields free of any rocks or other obstacles that could potentially damage the vehicle when landing. ![]() As Ingenuity moved on to exploring Jezero Crater alongside the Perseverance rover, we traveled through more challenging terrain than the team had ever anticipated. Ingenuity was developed as a technology demonstration and designed to operate on Mars in flat, smooth terrain like that at Wright Brothers Field. This update provides Ingenuity two major new capabilities: hazard avoidance when landing and the use of digital elevation maps to help navigate. ![]() Over the past few weeks, the operations team has been at work installing a major software update aboard the helicopter. Despite the flight’s simple nature, the team is very excited because of what it means for the future of Ingenuity. Even shorter than Ingenuity’s first flight, yesterday’s successful 18-second flight simply popped up to a little over 16 feet (5 meters), hovered, then landed. Stromatolites represent some of the earliest records of life on Earth.Īlthough we don’t yet know exactly how the margin rocks, or the carbonate within them formed, the team is eager to drill into these rocks and unlock their secrets.Compared to some of the other flights this past year, Flight 34 might not stand out. Another example of carbonate fossilization on Earth is stromatolites-layered structures created by microbial colonies growing in mineral-saturated waters. This is particularly valuable because once an organism is encased in carbonate it can be preserved for a very long time. On Earth, carbonate minerals have been observed to form directly around microbial cells, encapsulating them and rapidly turning them to fossils. When carbonates precipitate early in the rock-forming process, they can capture a snapshot of the environment in which they formed, including any signs of microbial life. Second, carbonate minerals are an excellent medium for preserving traces of ancient life if it existed. Thus, by studying the presence, abundance, and isotopic composition of these carbonates, our team may be able to infer Mars’ past atmospheric CO₂ levels and glean insights into its climatic history. These minerals form through a series of chemical reactions that begin when carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere reacts with liquid water. Firstly, carbonates can offer insights into Mars' bygone atmosphere. An alternative hypothesis is that the carbonates formed through mineral carbonation, where silicate minerals (like olivine) react with CO₂ and are converted to carbonates.Ĭarbonates are intriguing for several reasons. It's hypothesized that this might be the case for the margin carbonate unit on Mars too-over 3 billion years ago, the waters of a lake in Jezero crater might have lapped against its shores, depositing this carbonate layer. On Earth, carbonates typically form in the shallow shoals of freshwater or alkaline lakes. Located in a narrow band along the inner edge of Jezero’s western crater rim, this layer showcases pronounced signatures of a mineral known as carbonate. ![]() The Mars 2020 scientists have been buzzing with excitement this past week as Perseverance makes its final approach towards a special rock unit that played a pivotal role in selecting Jezero as the landing site for exploration. After more than two and a half years of driving and exploring, Perseverance is closing in on an eagerly anticipated destination: the margin carbonate unit.
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