A Year on Mars: What has Perseverance achieved?

One year has passed since NASA’s “Persebalance” arrived on the red planet and completed the 7-month journey of 471 million km from the Earth. After a nailed landing sequence called “Fear for seven minutes,” on February 18, 2021, the rover took up the helicopter “Ingenuity” and landed on a new home. In the meantime, the dynamic duo collected over 50 gigabytes of data and spread their knowledge and understanding of Mars in a series of first attempts.

The Jaezero Crater is where the lake was billions of years ago and features the oldest rocks that Martian scientists can study up close. The rocks that record and preserve the environment where water once existed are the perfect place to look for traces of ancient, microscopic life forms.

In addition, the PARSE BALANCE recently achieved a major milestone by breaking the longest daily travel record of the Mars spacecraft. The opportunity maintained this record for 17 years, and Persebalance broke that record by running 246 meters in a single Martian survey.

Auto-Navigation surface of Mars

This is thanks to the navigation software called “Auto-Navigation,” which determines an efficient route from a map of the surface of Mars.

• The next challenge for the spacecraft is to obtain two more rock samples from a dark conglomerate called “Chau.” These could help solve major unsolved problems with the Jaezero crater’s age. Recent estimations are based on impact craters, and scientists are looking for more accurate ways to date the region. 
• One year has passed since NASA’s “Persebalance” arrived on the red planet and completed the 7-month journey of 471 million km from the Earth. After a nailed landing sequence called “Fear for seven minutes,” on February 18, 2021, the rover took up the helicopter “Ingenuity” and landed on a new home.
• In the meantime, the dynamic duo collected over 50 gigabytes of data and spread their knowledge and understanding of Mars in a series of first attempts.
• The Jaezero Crater is where the lake was billions of years ago and features the oldest rocks that Martian scientists can study up close. The rocks that record and preserve the environment where water once existed are the perfect place to look for traces of ancient, microscopic life forms.
• In addition, the PARSE BALANCE recently achieved a major milestone by breaking the longest daily travel record of the Mars spacecraft. The opportunity maintained this record for 17 years, and Persebalance broke that record by running 246 meters in a single Martian survey.
• This is thanks to the navigation software called “Auto-Navigation,” which determines an efficient route from a map of the surface of Mars.