Perseverance landed in Jezero crater, Curiosity in Gale crater. Do craters have any specific properties that make them desirable landing sites for rovers?
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3$\begingroup$ NASA has a site for selecting the Perseverance landing site: marsnext.jpl.nasa.gov It lists all the scientific and engineering constraints and objectives, and it has all slides for all 4 workshops that were held. $\endgroup$– Jörg W MittagSep 6, 2021 at 13:19
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1$\begingroup$ The Spirit rover landed in Gusev crater. $\endgroup$– CornelisSep 6, 2021 at 16:34
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3$\begingroup$ I think it has to do with former lakes in those three craters. $\endgroup$– CornelisSep 6, 2021 at 16:37
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1$\begingroup$ Something to keep in mind: A crater is blasted out of the landscape and thus provides access to various geologic layers. If I wanted to see a bunch of different geology without going too far I would be looking for something that dug down. The ultimate example on Earth is the Grand Canyon. Canyons tend to have steep sides, but big craters will be more rover-friendly and a lot more common on Mars than on Earth. $\endgroup$– Loren PechtelSep 7, 2021 at 3:33
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1$\begingroup$ It also has something to do with just how much of Mars' surface is designated as "crater". Just about everything there is either a mountain, canyon, or crater. Technically, the entire northern 40% of the whole planet(North Polar Basin) is one stonking huge crater. $\endgroup$– CuteKItty_pleaseStopBArkingSep 7, 2021 at 5:53
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