Tag: perseverance

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Studies Intense Dust Storms on the Red Planet

US space agency NASA’s Perseverance rover has been exploring Mars and digging for signs of life since it landed on the planet in February last year. Besides the rocks and alien atmosphere, the rover witnessed some intense dust winds called dust devils in the Jezero Crater. In a new study, scientists have tried to examine the weather phenomena that the rover has seen in its first 216 Martian days. The findings are said to be beneficial for scientists in unravelling the dust processes on Mars and likely predicting future dust storms on the red planet.

NASA‘s Perseverance had managed to film one such phenomenon where gusts of wind lifted a massive Martian dust cloud. It has also detected hundreds of dust winds using the camera mounted on it and a suite of sensors.

“We had a regional dust storm right on top of us in January, but we are still in the middle of dust season, so we’re very likely to see more dust storms,” said Claire Newman, a researcher from Aeolis Research and lead author of the study published in Science Advances.

It was noted in the study that Perseverance experienced at least four whirlwinds on a typical day on Mars. More than one such wind passes the rover during a peak period just after noon, the researchers observed.

The rover’s cameras have also captured three gust-lifting events where dust clouds as big as 4 square kilometres were formed due to wind gusts. These wind gusts had the potential to collectively lift an equal amount or more of dust than the whirlwinds.

“We think these gust-liftings are infrequent but could be responsible for a large fraction of the background dust that hovers all the time in the Martian atmosphere,” said Newman.

Mars is known for its dust storms and the winds and dust have been witnessed across the planet. However, researchers observed a greater activity of dust storms in the Jezero Crater. This, according to Newman, could be due to factors such as roughness of its surface that facilitates the lifting of dust by the wind.

“There is generally just more dust lifting in Jezero Crater, though average wind speeds are lower there and peak wind speeds and whirlwind activity are comparable to Elysium Planitia,” Newman explained.

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on Twitter, Facebook, and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

iQoo 10 Legend BMW Edition Render Leaked: All the Details

Infinix Note 12 5G, Note 12 Pro 5G With AMOLED Display Teased to Launch Soon in India



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Gives Aerial Perspective on the Perseverance Landing Gear on Mars Surface

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter, the first probe to ever fly on another planet, has captured images of the landing gear that helped it and its companion, the Perseverance rover, land on Mars in February 2021. NASA has shared the images, saying the copter snapped at the wreckage during its 26th flight on the Red Planet. The images showed the dusty parachute that helped Perseverance descend on the Martian surface and the cone-shaped backshell that protected the $2.4 billion robotic mission as it moved with incredible speed in deep space as well as in the Martian atmosphere.

Entry, descent, and landing on Mars is fast-paced and stressful as the vehicle has to endure gravitational forces, high temperatures and other operational challenges that come with entering Mars atmosphere at 20,000 kph. NASA said the images were captured on April 19, the first anniversary of the helicopter’s first flight.

“We spy with our little eyes…rover landing gear! During the Mars helicopter’s 26th flight, it took photos of the entry, descent, & landing gear Perseverance needed to safely land on Mars. You can see the protective backshell & massive dusty parachute,” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which operates the mission, said in a tweet.

The Perseverance rover touched down safely in Jezero Crater, a dried-up lakebed, where scientists hope to find signs of ancient microbial life. Currently, the rover is collecting soil samples from Mars to send them back to Earth on a future human mission. These images offer a great opportunity for scientists to plan the landing of the future mission.

“NASA extended Ingenuity flight operations to perform pioneering flights such as this. Every time we’re airborne, Ingenuity covers new ground and offers a perspective no previous planetary mission could achieve,” said Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity’s team lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, in a statement.

The rover had previously imaged the parachute and backshell from a distance but those images lacked aerial perspective, which these photographs provide.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Exit mobile version