National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Perseverance Mars Rover is now scouting for landing sites for the "Mars Sample Return" campaign of the space agency on the Red Planet.
(Photo : NASA via Getty Images)
UNSPECIFIED: In this concept illustration provided by NASA, NASA's Perseverance (Mars 2020) rover will store rock and soil samples in sealed tubes on the planet's surface for future missions to retrieve in the area known as Jezero crater on the planet Mars.
While the NASA Mars Rover seeks to collect rock samples from the rocky surface of the Red Planets, it is now looking for a rare flat surface as the space agency prepares for its next Mars lander.
NASA Perseverance Mars Rover Scouts 'Mars Sample Return' Campaign Landing Sites
As per the latest news story from SciTechDaily, the Perseverance Mars rover has been taking rock samples at the ancient river delta at the Jezero Crater these days.
But apart from its science campaigns, the Mars rover of NASA is now searching for the percent landing site of the new Mars lander. It would specifically collect the sample tubes from the Perseverance rover, which carries rocks from the surface of the Martian planet.
The scouting of the landing site is a bit scrupulous as NASA is looking for a flat surface in the rocky terrain of Mars. Not to mention that the topography of the location also needs to be somewhat lander-friendly, to begin with.
NASA Mars Sample Return Campaign
SciTechDaily says in its report that a rocky terrain is actually more difficult to land on than a reasonably flat surface.
So the engineers of the Mars Sample Return campaign are precisely leaning toward a flat ground near the Jezero Crater in the Red Planet. And the Mars Rover is doing its job to scout the best landing site.
The Mars Sample Return Program Manager, Richard Cook, from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California says that the "Perseverance team pulled out all the stops for us because Mars Sample Return has unique needs when it comes to where we operate."
The Program Manager of Mars Sample Return notes that "essentially, a dull landing place is good."
He explains that "the flatter and more uninspiring the vista, the better we like it because while there are a lot of things that need to be done when we arrive to pick up the samples, sightseeing is not one of them."
Read Also: NASA Mars Perseverance Rover Spots an Unusual Trash! Here's What It is and Why Experts are Confused
NASA Perseverance Mars Rover
According to a recent report from Business Insider, the Perseverance Mars rover of NASA has been tasked to look for any signs of life on the complex surface of the Jezero Crater on the Martian planet.
The Mars rover started its mission on the Red Planet last year after it landed on its rocky and dusty surface.
In one of its recent sightings, the Perseverance rover of NASA spotted what appears to be a random filthy piece of trash on the surface of Mars.
But besides the trash, it has also collected tons of rock samples that would soon reach the Earth for further studies, as we continue to learn what lies ahead of us beyond our home planet.
Related Article: NASA's Mars Life Explorer Will Dig the Red Planet's Underground to Uncover Signs of Life
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Written by Teejay Boris
