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Questions tagged [perseverance]

Perseverance is a NASA Mars rover launched in July 2020 and landed in Jezero crater in February 2021. Use with the [mars] tag when asking about the environment it's in. Use with [ingenuity] when asking about its helicopter drone.

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Interpretation of mars rover images

I’ve been obsessed with the perseverance images, specially the images from the SHERLOC-WATSON system- the UV camera tricked out with racing stripes and fuzzy dice hanging from its rear-view mirror (...
Tom Smith's user avatar
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Were the distances traversed by Perseverance on Sol 718 and 719 each exactly 415.27 m or were they added together 415.27 m and if so, why?

The image above is an annotated screenshot of a part of the Perseverance location map. On the location map the white line represents the trajectory that Perseverance has traveled in Jezero crater. ...
Cornelis's user avatar
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What is pictured in this SHERLOC camera?

This picture was taken by one of the cameras on the Perseverance rover. What is pictured here ? And what is the purpose of this image?
usernumber's user avatar
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Since pure Platinum is found in alluvial deposits on Earth, could it not be detected by Perseverance on or near the fan-delta deposit in Jezero?

Platinum is an extremely rare metal, occurring at a concentration of 0.005 ppm in Earth's crust, but in some alluvial deposits it is often found chemically uncombined as native platinum and as an ...
Cornelis's user avatar
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Why not bring an extra rover with an ExoMars drill unit to Jezero to have a far better chance to get biosignatures for the sample return mission?

In an interview in the recent article Mars Has So Much Radiation, Any Signs of Life Would Be Buried Six Feet Under physicist Alexander Pavlov of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center tells that he and ...
Cornelis's user avatar
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Will Perseverance settle the question of life on Mars?

Here are a couple press conferences that summarize what Perseverance has found so far. Press conference: Ten months of Perseverance: Jezero science News Briefing: NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover ...
mmesser314's user avatar
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How far away is Jezero crater from Isidis Planitia? Can Perserverance go to Isidis Planitia?

according to this map Beagle 2's landing site (Isidis Plantina) isn't (too) far from Jezero Crater (landing site of rover Perserverance) If the rover were to turn around towards the location of Isidis ...
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Which were the more than 60 (!) candidate locations for the Mars 2020 rover?

Four years ago I asked for the 21 potential landing sites for the Mars 2020 mission in this question, but now I've learned that there were more than 60 candidate locations ! From NASA Announces ...
Cornelis's user avatar
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What are the regularly spaced spots on this piece of material on the surface of Mars?

This image is a part of the Image of the week, a photo acquired by the Perseverance rover's Mastcam-Z camera and selected by public vote. To me it seems like a piece of styrofoam and with a closer ...
Cornelis's user avatar
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Could there be caves on Mars in the areas inside Jezero crater and the watershed west and north of it where the Mg carbonates are detected?

Both images above are screenshots from Fig. 1 of the article Formation of Magnesium Carbonates on Earth and Implications for Mars The green coloured regions indicate where Mg carbonates were detected, ...
Cornelis's user avatar
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What could be the cause of the extraordinary high Fe counts from the PIXL instrument onboard the Perseverance rover?

In this answer a table is showed with all the elements that were detected by the PIXL instrument on 2 occasions, namely sol 140 and sol 167. As could be expected, X-ray counts were high for Si (...
Cornelis's user avatar
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Could Perseverance survive if Ingenuity failed?

They both landed successfully and ingenuity was deployed. Perseverance drove away, and then Ingenuity failed. Could Perseverance survive on its own?
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Could Ingenuity survive if Perseverance failed?

For the purposes of this question, we will assume that they both landed successfully. Ingenuity was deployed properly. Then, Perseverance drove away, and then Perserverance say hit a large rock and ...
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What if Perseverance had experienced a fault after dropping Ingenuity?

When Ingenuity was released on the Martian surface in April 2021, Perseverance had to drive away to let the helicopter recharge its batteries with its solar panel. Was there a concern that the rover ...
olamarre's user avatar
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After one year exploring Jezero's crater floor, has there been any investigation into the presence of trace elements with PIXL?

PIXL instrument chart sample Credit:NASA/JPL-CALTECH Of course PIXL has been used already in Jezero crater, but as far as I know only to identify mineral compositions and textures, as described in ...
Cornelis's user avatar
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Is the Beagle fixable?

We have since learned that Beagle 2 failed to operate successfully, potentially because its solar panels didn't open properly. Now, a collaboration between De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) and ...
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At what Mars-time did Perseverance land?

The Perseverance rover landed February 18, 2021 at 20:55 UTC, Earth-time. What time was it on Mars when Perseverance landed?
usernumber's user avatar
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Why was Perseverance covering little ground in its early days?

Perseverance has been on Mars for roughly a year. Based on the traverse path of Perseverance, it traveled rather slowly at first, and didn't cover much ground on its first 100 days on the red planet. ...
usernumber's user avatar
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Why is Perseverance heading back to where it came?

I was looking at the map of where Perseverance is and noticed that it is backtracking, following the path it already took, with only minor deviations. On Sol 353 for instance, it looks like it spent ...
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Is there a "sample tube manual eject" switch that can be externally accessed on Perseverance?

In the (unlikely) event that Perseverance stops operating before 2026, can the sample fetch rover forcibly detach the already full sample tubes by accessing a manual switch on the rover? Would it make ...
Caffeinefederation's user avatar
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What would have to be done to Perseverance's twin rover Optimism to make it capable of a limited Mars roving mission?

A comment under If the James Web Space Telescope goes up in smoke, is there a backup? mentions that the Perseverance rover has a twin and supports that with a link. I looked, expecting to see some ...
uhoh's user avatar
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Do Curiosity and Perseverance have gyrocompasses? Has any rover had one? If so, what kind and how do they work?

There is discussion of a gyrocompass in comments on the page How does Curiosity know how to point and move it's high gain antenna in real time? but so far I don't think there is a hard "Yes&...
uhoh's user avatar
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Are there any selfies of Curiosity or Perseverance with their high gain antenna deployed and "looking up"?

The Curiosity and Perseverance rovers have high gain antenna arrays on a mechanical arm that can rise up and point towards Earth and communicate directly. Has the Curiosity rover ever communicated ...
uhoh's user avatar
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1 answer
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Is Perseverance going to keep carrying those samples around or cache them? I don't really understand the plan

IFLScience's Perseverance's Latest Mars Rock Sample Contains Curious "Greenish" Mineral begins: Having long broken its record of firsts on Mars, the Perseverance rover, still pootling ...
uhoh's user avatar
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Were both Computers active during the Landing of Curiosity and Perseverance

Curiosity and Perseverance have 2 redundant computers, during surface operations, only one is active at a time, while the other one is there as a spare. Now I'm wondering if during landing they ...
RAD6000's user avatar
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Why is there a black donut in Perseverance's SkyCam? Is it always used to block the Sun? (sky cameras on Earth don't) How does it work?

At mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images I found Mars Perseverance Sol 258: SkyCam Camera which shows a sky camera (180° FOV fisheye view of the sky) image. I've included it below along with ...
uhoh's user avatar
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Spin-stabilization of a NASA rover en route to Mars. What and why?

This NASA's site describes a launch sequence of a rover towards Mars, from which we can read: Before the third stage's rocket is fired to get the spacecraft out of Earth orbit and on its way to Mars, ...
Ng Ph's user avatar
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Could not an adapted RASSOR appear to be crucial for the Perseverance rover to find possible biosignatures on Mars?

Is it not very likely that most of the material that could contain possible biosignatures, like clays and carbonate containing minerals, will be below a layer of dust or regolith on Mars ? That the ...
Cornelis's user avatar
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2 votes
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Does Perseverance have a SAM-like instrument? [duplicate]

Curiosity had an instrument called SAM onboard that did gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Do any of the instruments on Perseverance include these capabilities? If not, why were they deemed ...
usernumber's user avatar
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2 votes
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Is Perseverance really nicknamed Perky?

A MSN article states : Perseverance, nicknamed Perky Is this nickname actually used for Perseverance? By whom? Do the people at NASA colloquially call the rover Perky?
usernumber's user avatar
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Why does SuperCam need a combination of lasers?

In the video on the NASA website, the speaker says that in SuperCam, we use a combination of lasers Why does the SuperCam need multiple lasers? Did ChemCam also have several lasers?
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How does SuperCam measure the air?

The NASA website mentions that the SuperCam onboard Perseverance can measure the air. How does it do this? Does it use LIBS? Is the SuperCam more apt at doing these measures than a regular camera?
usernumber's user avatar
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How does the wind behave throughout the day in Jezero Crater? (worried about Ingenuity)

JPL tweet links to mars.nasa.gov's Flying on Mars Is Getting Harder and Harder which explains that seasonal changes are lowering the density of the local atmosphere, presumably due to warmer seasonal ...
uhoh's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
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Mars helicopter ingenuity stress testing at end of mission?

Ingenuity is mainly a proof-of-concept to the main Perseverence mission. It worked very well considering the challanges. When the helicopter is done being "useful", will it be stress-tested ...
Kevin Kostlan's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
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Did Perseverance visit South Seítah?

This summer, Ingenuity found a track that could yield interesting science results. Has Perseverance driven down South Seítah yet? If not, has the possibility of sending Perseverance there been ...
usernumber's user avatar
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5 votes
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What are the maximum data capacities of the active rovers on Mars?

Many rovers have been sent to Mars and, as now, some are still working there. Does anyone know the maximum data capacity of each active rover? Curiosity Perseverance Zhurong
RANSARA009's user avatar
1 vote
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Why didn't the EDL mic record sound during the entry and descent of Perseverance?

This NASA webpage says that the EDL mic wasn't able to record sound during the descent, but has been able to record sound from the surface of Mars. So the mic is functional. But why couldn't it record ...
usernumber's user avatar
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2 votes
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Will Perseverance explore the outskirts of Jezero?

Perseverance landed in the Jezero crater and has been exploring the area around its landing site. The crater use to be filled with water, so the bottom of the crater was covered with sedimentary rocks....
usernumber's user avatar
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8 votes
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Can Perseverance know which direction sound is coming from?

From the NASA website about Perseverance, the rover has two microphones on board. Can it use both microphones at the same time to pinpoint the direction a sound is coming from? Has this already been ...
usernumber's user avatar
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3 votes
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Has Perseverance fired up its RIMFAX yet?

PIA24048: Testing RIMFAX for NASA's Perseverance Rover Original Caption Released with Image: A test model of the RIMFAX instrument — aboard the trailer behind the snow mobile — undergoes field ...
uhoh's user avatar
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Perseverance's First Borehole looks like its particles of sand stuck together by something; composition of this material and source of adhesion?

Resampled and sharpened detail from PIA24796: WATSON Image of Perseverance's First Borehole This is reminiscent of a day at the beach digging a hole in wet sand. The walls remain standing as long as ...
uhoh's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
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Why shadows of the blades on Ingenuity navcam photos looks brighter than shadows of the legs?

Consider this photo from the Ingenuity navcam on the first (?) flight: You can see that the shadows of the blades seem brighter than the shadows of the legs. It's especially noticeable when they ...
dcoder_mm's user avatar
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1 answer
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How does the Dragonfly helicopter for Titan compare to Perseverance, Ingenuity and a human in terms of size, mass, weight and daily range?

It wasn't until Are Perseverance's wheels really this big? that I realized just how big Curiosity and Perseverance probably are. Writing What is the pop-up circular disk with spiral pattern in ...
uhoh's user avatar
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2 votes
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Which is currently further from their landing site: Ingenuity or Perseverance? How far away are they from each now?

Ingenuity has flown seven times now and I'm not certain but I think for at least one of the flights it traveled some distance and landed in a new site. Perseverance has done some traveling as well. ...
uhoh's user avatar
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4 votes
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Did they figure out what caused the "high-pitched scratching noise" that Perseverance recorded with its microphone? Was it static discharge?

In NASA's SoundCloud account there is Sounds of Perseverance Mars Rover Driving – Sol 16 (16 minutes) (for example between 01:30 and ...
uhoh's user avatar
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Have any Mars surface spacecraft had downward-pointing radiometers to measure the surface temperature? (not air temperature)

NASA's Insight; Weather gives us regular weather updates from Insight's location on Mars, an example is shown below. Temperature is of the air around the lander. Question: But does or has Insight or ...
uhoh's user avatar
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Why is the Southern Hemisphere of Mars is heavily struck by asteroids while the northern part is relatively smooth?

The northern hemisphere of Mars is smooth with flats lands but areas particularly below the Tharsis rise is heavily cratered, also Hellas basin, one of the largest impact craters is located in the ...
Pioneer's user avatar
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How Ingenuity ensures it does not fly away from the range of connection from Perseverance?

There must be a range after which Ingenuity cannot communicate with Perseverance. I am not sure what that distance is. How Ingenuity ensures it does not fly away out of that distance? If inadvertently ...
karthikeyan's user avatar
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10 votes
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What could Perseverance listening to Ingenuity reveal?

On 2021 May 7, the science lead for Perseverance's SuperCam Mars microphone said about that microphone's recording of a flight of the Ingenuity helicopter: We had carried out tests and simulations ...
Camille Goudeseune's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
121 views

Could Ingenuity use the shadow of its legs for navigation to fly autonomously to the sample cache depot location?

It's summertime now in Jezero crater, and according to the HORIZONS Web-Interface the subsolar latitude for Mars varies between both the end of May and November 2021 from 18.5⁰ N to ~25.5⁰ N and back ...
Cornelis's user avatar
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