Orphaned by the small Ingenuity helicopter, whose missions were terminated by NASA due to a problem with a blade, the Perseverance rover has not yet finished its journeys on Mars. Now alone, it continues to roam the red planet, looking for traces of past life, or rather traces of water, and rock samples to bring back to Earth.
On June 9, the craft managed to avoid rocky terrain to reach an area called “Bright Angel.” This avoidance allowed it to arrive on site earlier than expected, but it also allowed the discovery that the bed of the Neretva Vallis channel was hiding a wealth of geological information for the scientific team.
An accidental discovery
“A change of route en route to Bright Angel took me through an unexpectedly diverse geological playground, Neretva Vallis!” the rover wrote on social media. “This ancient river channel—which carried most of the water that flowed into Jezero Crater billions of years ago—is filled with intriguing boulders.”
Located at the base of the north wall of the channel, Bright Angel has light-colored rock outcrops that could be ancient rocks exposed by river erosion or sediments that filled the channel. Scientists hope to find rocks that are different from the usual, rich in carbonates and olivine, and thus gather more clues about Jezero’s history.
A route change on my way to Bright Angel has led me through an unexpectedly diverse geological playground, Neretva Vallis! This ancient river channel – which carried most of the water that flowed into Jezero Crater billions of years ago – is filled with intriguing boulders. pic.twitter.com/4faWzFZJpt
— NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) June 13, 2024
Engineers and navigation system find a way
When the terrain is rough, and therefore dangerous for the rover’s wheels, engineers on Earth use the rover’s imagery to plan paths of about 30 meters at a time. To go farther in a given day or Martian sol, planners rely on Perseverance’s automatic navigation system, called AutoNav, to take over.
But as the boulders grew more numerous, AutoNav forced the rover to slow down or even stop. But from Earth, using the rover’s images, engineers spotted dunes that were both smaller and spaced far enough apart for a rover to pass between them. That’s the path Perseverance took as it headed down the channel and targeted “Mount Washburn,” a hill covered in intriguing boulders, some of a type never before seen on Mars.
Atoko Point hides a wealth of geological information
“The diversity of textures and compositions at Mount Washburn was an exciting discovery for the team, because these rocks represent a range of geologic materials from the crater rim and possibly beyond,” says Brad Garczynski of Western Washington University in Bellingham, co-leader of the current science campaign. “But among all these different rocks, one in particular stood out.” Its name: “Atoko Point.”
About 45 centimeters wide and 35 centimeters tall, the light-colored, speckled rock stands out in a field of darker rocks. Analysis by Perseverance’s SuperCam and Mastcam-Z instruments indicates that the rock is composed of the minerals pyroxene and feldspar. In terms of the size, shape and arrangement of its mineral grains and crystals — and potentially its chemical composition — Atoko Point is in a class of its own.
Some Perseverance scientists believe the minerals that make up Atoko Point were produced in a subterranean body of magma that may now be exposed on the crater rim. Others wonder whether the rock was created far beyond Jezero’s walls and carried there by fast-moving Martian waters millions of years ago. One thing is for sure: Atoko Point is one of a kind.
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