Work on Mars, one of our first cosmic-scale goals as humanity, continues. One of the first vehicles we sent to the red planet was for this purpose perseverancecelebrated its 1000th day of operation since landing in early 2021. So far in Jezero Crater 23 different examples The collection vehicle will also look for signs of whether there was ever life on Mars.

The vehicle, launched on the Atlas V-541 rocket on July 30, 2020, reached Mars after a seven-month journey. During the lowering of the vehicle, parachutes, mini rocket boosters and an air crane were used for the first time. As for the purpose of the vehicle Studying the geology, climate and atmospheric conditions of Mars was shown.

Looking for traces of life

It is no coincidence that the Jezero crater was chosen for landing. NASA, searches for signs of life on Mars via Perseverance. It is known that in the past there was a large lake in the area where the crater is located. Because water is vital to life, NASA researchers believe they can find traces of life in areas where there is water.

One of the samples found in the crater is “Lefroy Bay” The example called. In this sample, traces of fine-grained silicon were found and scientists declared that this substance was abundant on our planet and was a successful substance in the preservation of fossils. Another example showed the presence of phosphate, which is associated with biological processes.

Perseverance’s planned lifespan is one Martian year, so on our calendar. 687 days used to be.