NASA's Perseverance rover (a.k.a. Mars 2020)

[Kyng]

Well, their second attempt at collecting a rock sample went perfectly :

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2021...ample.html

It'll eventually be retrieved from Mars (along with other rock samples that Perseverance is expected to collect during the rest of its mission) - so, let's hope that goes smoothly !

[Kyng]

Apparently, this rover has found some organic chemicals :

https://www.space.com/nasa-perseverance-...anics-mars

Now, that isn't proof of past or present life, because these compounds can be produced by non-biological means - but it's certainly intriguing! I'll look forward to hearing any discoveries on what processes produced these .

[Kyng]

If you're wondering what a solar eclipse looks like on Mars... now you know, thanks to Perseverance :



Admittedly, not as spectacular as the ones we get on Earth, but still something I hadn't seen until today .

[Kyng]

Here's a bit of a weird one... Perseverance spotted a shiny silver object on Mars. However, it turned out to be a piece of its own landing gear :


(Source: NASA / Space.com)

To be fair, the way it's landed, it does look like a rock!

[Kyng]

Apparently, Perseverance has lost its 'pet rock', which had been hitching a ride with it for over a year :

https://www.newser.com/story/334422/afte...rover.html

Kinda sad, but I hope the rock enjoyed its journey!

[Kyng]

Sadly, the Ingenuity helicopter can no longer fly, because of rotor blade damage:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024...ast-flight

A shame to see it go - but, it lasted for three years, which is rather impressive for something that was meant as a short-term tech demo.

So long, Ingenuity - and thanks for all the science.

[Kyng]

In happier news, Perseverance did discover that a large crater was once home to a lake... here's an artist's impression of how it might have looked:


(Source: NASA / Space.com)

Does raise hopes that we might find traces of life that once lived there!