The Perseverance rover recently arrived at Bright Angel on Mars, a famous spot marked by light-colored rocks located on the edge of the ancient Neretva River bed.

Last week, NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover reached the long-awaited region of Bright Angel, named for the bright rock featured in orbital data. The unique color here, as well as its surface features and location at the edge of the ancient Neretva River bed, made Bright Angel an interesting location for the Mars 2020 science team.

Initial observations and data collection

Perseverance approached the rocks after capturing stunning long-distance images of Bright Angel (see below). Images taken with a closer camera, Mastcam-Z, and SuperCam data revealed the intriguing surface textures of these light-colored rocks, which the science team is actively studying.

Deletion and in-depth analysis

After several days of processing the beautiful images and breathtaking location, Perseverance completed the planned rock arrangement in front of the rover, which can be seen in the image above when you look closely under the rover’s arm. This area of ​​weathering is named “Walhalla Glades” after an ancient archaeological site in the Grand Canyon along the Colorado River, in honor of Bright Angel’s location on the edge of the ancient Neretva River bed.

Proximity research tools have been applied to examine erosive patches in detail and obtain high-resolution geochemical data of these rocks. In the above image of the hazard avoidance camera, the PIXL vehicle is pointed at the erosion area on the rock face during the scan.

Geological context and future research

The science team will need time to understand all the new data obtained on Bright Angel, compare it with past rocks examined by Perseverance, and decide whether the site should be included in the sample cache on the Perseverance ship. By characterizing the Bright Angel rocks, relating them to the surrounding rocks and sediments of the Neretva Valley, and placing them in context with the crater rim and crater rim units, a fascinating chapter in the history of Jezero Crater should be written!