WEBVTT - How Will NASA's Perseverance Rover Search for Ancient Life on Mars?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Bogelbaum here. On July, an Atlas rocket lifted off

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<v Speaker 1>from Florida's Cape Canaveral, carrying the Mars mission and its

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<v Speaker 1>Perseverance rover on an approximately five month journey to the

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<v Speaker 1>Red Planet. After the rover lands and the Jezero Crater

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<v Speaker 1>on February one, the robotic vehicle will roam the crater,

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<v Speaker 1>extracting chalk sized pieces of Martian rock that eventually could

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<v Speaker 1>reveal whether life once existed on the Solar System's fourth

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<v Speaker 1>planet from the Sun. Perseverance weighs two thousand, two hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and sixty pounds that's one thousand and twenty five kilos

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<v Speaker 1>and measures about ten ft or three meters long, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's the latest in a succession of Mars rovers that

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<v Speaker 1>has included Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity. Since Curiosity arrived on

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<v Speaker 1>the Martian surface in August, it's traveled over fourteen miles

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<v Speaker 1>almost twenty three kilometers, and in twenty nineteen found evidence

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<v Speaker 1>of an ancient oasis on the seemingly arid planets Gale Crater.

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<v Speaker 1>NASA plans for Perseverance to operate for at least one

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<v Speaker 1>Martian year that's six eighty seven Earth days, and cover

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<v Speaker 1>a distance of between three and twelve miles or five

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<v Speaker 1>and twenty kilometers Perseverance's most attention getting scientific goal is

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<v Speaker 1>to search for evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars,

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<v Speaker 1>but as two NASA scientists explain, the mission is much

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<v Speaker 1>more complex. We spoke via email jointly with Michael Mayer,

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<v Speaker 1>lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program, and Mitch Schultz,

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<v Speaker 1>a Mars Program scientist. They said, the most significant aspect

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<v Speaker 1>of this mission is that the mission represents the evolution

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<v Speaker 1>of studying Mars, follow the water, understand a bit ability,

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<v Speaker 1>and now search for the signs of ancient life. However,

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<v Speaker 1>we don't know what we will find until we get there,

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<v Speaker 1>and that will be the most significant Among the mission

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<v Speaker 1>goals are to understand the geologic environment of the landing

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<v Speaker 1>site and search for biosignatures, and the rover is ably

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<v Speaker 1>equipped to either find or at least identify the most

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<v Speaker 1>promising samples that might have preserved biosignatures, and the extremely

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<v Speaker 1>promising part cash them to be brought back to Earth

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<v Speaker 1>to be examined by the best instruments in the world.

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<v Speaker 1>NASA had to complete preparations for the launch in the

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<v Speaker 1>middle of the COVID nineteen pandemic. The situation required the

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<v Speaker 1>project team to limit the number of personnel working together

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<v Speaker 1>at any one time at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California,

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<v Speaker 1>and workers had to practice social distancing, wear protective equipment,

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<v Speaker 1>and use hand sanitizer and other cleaning supplies. But on

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<v Speaker 1>these science end, NASA workers were more concerned about maintaining

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<v Speaker 1>the cleanliness of the planetary Probe sampling and cashing system,

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<v Speaker 1>which will handle Martian soil and rock samples. Mayor and

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<v Speaker 1>Shoot explain the contamination control levels are unprecedented for any

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<v Speaker 1>spacecraft and unachievable in most laboratories on Earth. To build

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<v Speaker 1>a sampling system to such ultra clean standards and keep

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<v Speaker 1>the system clean has been a real achievement. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>the proof of the pudding will be when the samples

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<v Speaker 1>are returned to Earth. Technically, the Rover is the most

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<v Speaker 1>complex spacecraft sent to Mars, and designing and building the

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<v Speaker 1>sample caching system was a substantial challenge. The only challenge

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<v Speaker 1>posed by the pandemic has been keeping the team assembling

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<v Speaker 1>the spacecraft and launch vehicles safe, which has been successful.

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<v Speaker 1>Jesero Crater was chosen as a landing site because it's

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<v Speaker 1>an area that researchers believe is likely to harbor evidence

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<v Speaker 1>of ancient microscopic organisms. Mayor and Schultz wrote, our orbital

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<v Speaker 1>studies show that Jesero Crater was an ancient crater lake

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<v Speaker 1>with a recognizable delta deposit, indicative of water flowing into

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<v Speaker 1>a standing body of water. Life as we know it

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<v Speaker 1>requires a liquid water environment to exist. In addition, a

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<v Speaker 1>critical aspect is that the same site shows a high

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<v Speaker 1>die versity of environments, a great place to sample multiple

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<v Speaker 1>rock types that can tell us about the climate and

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<v Speaker 1>geological history of the crater and the planet on Earth.

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<v Speaker 1>Delta is one type of deposit you would expect to

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<v Speaker 1>have signs of life preserved. Furthermore, there are other tantalizing

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<v Speaker 1>mineral deposits, like the purported lake shore has carbonate rocks,

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<v Speaker 1>also a good place to have preserved evidence of life

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<v Speaker 1>if there was any. Well perseverances instruments will gather some

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<v Speaker 1>data about the area from which these Martian soil and

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<v Speaker 1>rock samples are gathered. The samples themselves eventually will be

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<v Speaker 1>retrieved by a future mission and transported back to Earth

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<v Speaker 1>for more extensive analysis. The two NASA scientists explained that

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<v Speaker 1>while the retrieval details are still being worked out quote,

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<v Speaker 1>the general plan is that in NASA and the European

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<v Speaker 1>Space Agency will launch two missions. One a lander that

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<v Speaker 1>will carry a fetch rover to get the samples and

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<v Speaker 1>a rocket for lifting the samples off the red planet.

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<v Speaker 1>The other mission will be an bitter for capturing the

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<v Speaker 1>sample container launched from the surface of Mars and then

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<v Speaker 1>bringing the contained samples to Earth. Of course, we will

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<v Speaker 1>know a fair amount about the samples and the area

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<v Speaker 1>of Jesero Crater from which they come because of the

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<v Speaker 1>science instruments on board the rover, Perseverance is well equipped

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<v Speaker 1>to explore the region to understand the present and ancient environment.

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<v Speaker 1>The details of each side explored and specifically each rock

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<v Speaker 1>are regular from which the sample will have been collected.

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<v Speaker 1>We're likely to see some spectacular pictures of the Martian

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<v Speaker 1>surface too, since the rover is equipped with more and

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<v Speaker 1>better cameras twenty three and all than any previous Mars mission,

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<v Speaker 1>and the Perseverance mission will provide an opportunity for the

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<v Speaker 1>first test of the Ingenuity robotic helicopter, which could be

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<v Speaker 1>an important part of future planetary exploration. The scientists said

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<v Speaker 1>the helicopter is a technology demonstration, and as such, the

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<v Speaker 1>flights are designed to test its capabilities. The potential of

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<v Speaker 1>Ingenuity to contribute to the science of the mission is there,

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<v Speaker 1>but will be incidental to the data being collected for

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<v Speaker 1>assessing the helicopter's performance. Today's episode was written by Patrick J.

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<v Speaker 1>Keiger and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this

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<v Speaker 1>and lots of other persevering topics, visit how stuff works

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. For

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