The science team in charge of the American space agency’s (Nasa) Perseverance rover on Mars is relieved as they are sure now, that they sent the robot to an ideal location that will provide them with the best possible opportunity to find signs of ancient life on Mars.
‘Percy’, the robotic rover had landed in Jezero Crater earlier in February and has taken thousands of photographs of its surroundings since then.
The analysis confirms that the rover is on the floor of a once-great lake fed by a meandering river that enters the deep bowl from the west. All these events occurred over 3.5 billion years ago, when the Red Planet’s climate was far more hospitable.
Scientists are now certain that where the river system met the lake water, the flows slowed suddenly and the sediment in the suspension fell out to form a delta in the region.
Microorganisms could have thrived in such an environment, and their chemical traces could have been preserved, scientists say.
Perseverance, the rover landed a few kilometres away from the main delta formation, but its telescopic views were enticing, especially when it comes to one isolated mound, or butte, called Kodiak.
The robot is tasked with collecting and packaging over a dozen rock samples from various locations on Mars. These samples will be returned to Earth in 2030s to be examined in laboratories that are capable of determining whether or not micro-organisms ever existed on Mars’ surface.
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