Geological, multispectral, and meteorological imaging results from the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover in Jezero crater

Abstract

Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z instrument provides high-resolution stereo and multispectral images with a unique combination of spatial resolution, spatial coverage, and wavelength coverage along the rover’s traverse in Jezero crater, Mars. Images reveal rocks consistent with an igneous (including volcanic and/or volcaniclastic) and/or impactite origin and limited aqueous alteration, including polygonally fractured rocks with weathered coatings; massive boulder-forming bedrock consisting of mafic silicates, ferric oxides, and/or iron-bearing alteration minerals; and coarsely layered outcrops dominated by olivine. Pyroxene dominates the iron-bearing mineralogy in the fine-grained regolith, while olivine dominates the coarse-grained regolith. Solar and atmospheric imaging observations show significant intra- and intersol variations in dust optical depth and water ice clouds, as well as unique examples of boundary layer vortex action from both natural (dust devil) and Ingenuity helicopter–induced dust lifting. High-resolution stereo imaging also provides geologic context for rover operations, other instrument observations, and sample selection, characterization, and confirmation.

The diverse meteorology of Jezero crater over the first 250 sols of Perseverance on Mars

“…The daily OD evolution was also retrieved from TIRS infrared measurements, strengthening the case for night-time clouds. Figure 4e shows the diurnal variation of thermal infrared aerosol OD, contributed Values are observed to be higher in the morning than in the afternoon, consistent with measurements made occasionally with MastCam-Z 22 . b, RDS observations also allow the derivation of the OD at a temporal resolution of 1 s, enabling the study of short-duration events, such as DD.…”

“…4a, including the Article https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01084-0 increase around sol 70 and most of the morning-afternoon difference, is due to water-ice hazes 36,37 . Clouds were observed around sols 70 and 180, but discrete clouds were not typically present during daytime 22 . During this season, a low dust OD (0.3-0.6), with low variability, is typical of other sites 38,39 .…”

“…6). Some events are dust devils (DDs), also detected as slight drops (∼0.4-26.0%) in radiation sensor readings or imaged with Perseverance cameras 22 . Jezero exhibits the highest abundance of DDs so far detected by a mission on the surface of Mars 23,24 .…”

Winds at the Mars 2020 Landing Site: 1. Near‐Surface Wind Patterns at Jezero Crater

“…Mars 2020 has detected a rich dynamic atmosphere and aeolian environment in Jezero crater with dust lifting mainly produced by the passage of convective vortices and convection cells (Bell et al., 2022; Newman et al., 2022). Measurements obtained during the first few sols of the mission suggested that wind patterns are mainly controlled by regional and local slope flows in accordance with pre‐landing model simulations (e.g., Newman et al., 2021).…”

Comparison of Ventifact Orientations and Recent Wind Direction Indicators on the Floor of Jezero Crater, Mars

“…Ventifact formation in the current era might occur only during anomalous weather conditions, e.g., rare strong, sanddriving wind events from atypical directions, associated with dust storms or other unusual weather phenomena. Alternatively, ventifact orientations might indicate a paleowind regime different from the current prevailing conditions (Newman et al, 2022;Bell et al, 2022).…”