HiRISE Spots Perseverance in South Séítah: The white dot in the centre is our beloved Perseverance rover, dwarfed by the large dune in the Séítah area. This image was obtained on September 24th, 2021, by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Who dislikes deep sand traps more than golf enthusiasts?
Mars rover motorists (and most likely Fremen too).
When your vehicle is well over 50 million kilometers away from the nearby tow company, getting your wheels stuck in sand can be a mission-critical issue. Such a circumstance ended the Spirit rovers objective in 2009.
HiRISE Spots Perseverance in South Séítah: The white dot in the centre is our beloved Perseverance rover, dwarfed by the large sand dunes in the Séítah area. After Perseverance landed and turned her eyes (electronic cameras) towards Séítah, the Science Team was treated to a compelling view of diversely layered rocks. We saw thin layers and thick layers, planar layers and slanted layers, featureless layers and layers with protrusions. Further, by studying the instructions that the layers tilted, we identified that the rocks of Séítah are likely the most ancient rocks exposed in all of Jezero crater. Mars Perseverance Sol 248– Left Navigation Camera: Photograph of the Brac rock target located in front of the Perseverance rover.
Determination is currently winding her method through the maze of imposing sand dunes that characterize the Séítah area of Jezero crater (” Séítah” implies “in the middle of the sand” in the Navajo language, a well-fitting name). A current picture beamed back from the HiRISE cam (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveals the level to which the close-by dunes dwarf the rover, which itself is the size of a little SUV.
After Perseverance landed and turned her eyes (cams) towards Séítah, the Science Team was dealt with to a compelling view of diversely layered rocks. We saw thick layers and thin layers, planar layers and tilted layers, featureless layers and layers with protrusions. Further, by studying the instructions that the layers slanted, we determined that the rocks of Séítah are most likely the most ancient rocks exposed in all of Jezero crater.
Mars Perseverance Sol 248– Left Navigation Camera: Photograph of the Brac rock target situated in front of the Perseverance rover. Determination obtained this image on sol 248 using its onboard Left Navigation Camera (Navcam).
From a distance, it is difficult to identify what that progressing landscape really looked like. Many hypotheses have been proposed for the origin of the layered rocks in Séítah, including sedimentation in an ancient lake or river with varying flow energy, airfall of ashes, airfall of material removed by an impact occasion, cooled lava flows, or a magmatic intrusion. Every one of these possibilities carries with it a (very) different analysis of how habitable Jezero crater remained in the deep past and figuring out which scenario is most proper requires a more detailed look.
Which is why we braved the sand. As of this writing, the rover is parked in front of one of the fascinating layered rocks that we spied from a distance, informally named Brac.
Written by Erin Gibbons, Student Collaborator at McGill University.