NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover got its first high-definition look around its new home in Jezero Crater on Feb. 21 after rotating its mast, or "head," 360 degrees, allowing NASA's Mastcam-Z instrument to rover captured its first panorama after having landing on the Red Planet on February 18. It was the rover's second panorama, as the rover's navigation cameras, or Navcams, also located on the mast, captured a 360 degree view on February 20th.
Mastcam-Z is a dual-camera system equipped with a zoom function, allowing the cameras to zoom in, zoom in and take high-definition video, as well as color panoramic and 3D images of the Martian surface. With this capability, the robotic astrobiologist can provide detailed examination of near and far objects.
The cameras will help scientists assess Jezero Crater's geological history and atmospheric conditions, and help identify rocks and sediments worthy of a closer look by the rover's other instruments. The cameras will also help the mission team determine which rocks the rover should sample and collect for eventual return to Earth in the future.
Assembled from 142 images, the newly released panorama reveals the crater rim and cliff face of an ancient river delta in the distance. The camera system can reveal details as small as 0,1 to 0,2 inches (3 to 5 millimeters) in close proximity to the rover and 6,5 to 10 feet (2 to 3 meters) on distant slopes along the horizon.
The detailed composite image shows a Martian surface that looks similar to images captured by previous NASA missions.
“We are nestled in an ideal location where you can see different features similar in many ways to features found by Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity at their landing sites”said Jim Bell of Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration, the instrument's principal investigator. ASU leads Mastcam-Z instrument operations, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego.
The Mastcam-Z design is an evolution of the Mastcam instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, which has two fixed-focal-length cameras instead of zoom cameras. The two cameras on Perseverance's Mastcam-Z dual cameras are mounted on the rover's mast at eye level for a 2-meter-tall person. They are 9,5 inches (24,1 centimeters) apart to provide stereo vision and can produce color images at a quality similar to that of a consumer HD digital camera.
The Mastcam-Z team includes dozens of scientists, engineers, operations specialists, managers and students from a variety of institutions. Additionally, the team includes Deputy Principal Investigator Justin Maki of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
The mission:
The Perseverance rover is aiming to search for ancient microbial life in the floor of the crater, which was once the site of a large lake.
The equipment is actually a geological laboratory, some experiments will be carried out, one of them is the collection of Martian materials that will be kept so that a future mission can fetch such materials and bring them to Earth.
One of several experiments will be the use of MOXE, a device that will try to transform carbon dioxide into oxygen.
"Perseverance's sophisticated science instruments will not only aid in the hunt for fossilized microbial life, but will also expand our knowledge of Martian geology and its past, present and future.", said Ken Farley, project scientist for Mars 2020 at Caltech in Pasadena, Calif.
“Our science team has been busy planning how best to work with what we anticipate will be a cutting-edge data hose. This is the kind of 'problem' we are looking forward to”.
Another novelty at Perseverance is the presence of a mini-helicopter, the Ingenuity, which will be the first drone to fly on another planet. The Ingenuity drone flight should take place in 60 days and its mission is to prove whether or not a flight like this is possible on the planet.
Source: NASA
Edition: Aeroflap
