Researchers have found a mysterious stone in the crater of the volcano

A historic drop occurred last year.

Then the “perseverance” rover arrived. Walk.

Since then, she has been searching for signs of prehistoric life there.

Yesterday, the first results were published.

– These are very interesting measurements, says Sven Eric Hamran.

Professor UiO led the work with “Rimfax”.

Radar is an important part of the rover’s suite of equipment, and it can provide unique details at a depth of 15 meters on the ground.

Results are based on first results Kilometers I drove the rover.

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Hamran from Fawski in Nordland and first author of a book recent study.

It is based on measurements made at the crater of a volcano called Jezero.

The results were described as surprising.

– There is more complex geology in the crater floor than previously thought.

In the crater of the volcano there was also a lake A long time ago.

So it was expected to find a rock that would reflect that. What the researchers call Horizontal sea floor sediments.

Instead, they discovered two other types of rock:

One of them arises from magma (molten rock) deep under The earth’s surface.
Other than volcanic activity on me Surface.

– We see that there is an impact of water on the floor of the hole, but much less than we expected. Hamran says this surprised us.

Many articles have been published

It is important to note that the results now published do not have to be read in just one article.

In fact, we are talking about a total of four articles, reporting NASA.

Together, they provide a good overview of what has been found so far on Mars.

The articles describe the unique methods used. Among other things, the use of a “laser gun” on a tool is called SuperCam To study the stone.

From press release We can read:

SuperCam “Go” total 1,450 points over 10 months.

The measurements helped to reach a conclusion about the igneous rocks in the crater floor.

The interesting thing is also that igneous rocks make good “hours”.

And therefore; The crystals in it can tell a lot about the time of formation.

– They’ll tell us when the lake was in Jezero, says Ken Farley of the California Institute of Technology.

New questions raised

Farley is another researcher with the Perseverance Project, and lead author on one of the articles. He says new questions are now emerging:

When was the climate on Mars suitable for lakes and rivers? When did it change to the cool, dry conditions we see today?

How volcanic stone material He ended up in the crater of the volcano, remains a mystery.

It’s hard to tell how the crater floor was formed. Hamran indicates that whether it came from a volcano inside the crater of the volcano or from outside.

The rover’s most important mission is to find out if there is life on Mars in one form or another. For this, igneous rocks are not the best place to look.

In this case, sedimentary rocks are actually more suitable. They form in the water where life is more likely.

Therefore, there is also tension associated with the river delta by Jesero Crater.

Aim to return samples

The rover has traveled nine kilometers since landing.

From the bottom of the pit to the aforementioned river delta.

Since April of this year, core samples have been excavated and collected there. The samples, which we hope will be returned to Earth in the future, for comprehensive analyzes in the laboratory.

What the rover finds will help map geology and past climates. It paves the way for human exploration of the red planet.

– What is after finding out if there is life on Mars?

– I think it’s hard to say anything based solely on the rover measurements. They can give us a signal, but nothing is certain. Hamran says the samples should be returned to Earth so we can say anything definitive.