{"id":44848,"date":"2023-05-12T06:49:51","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T06:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=118629"},"modified":"2023-05-12T07:32:31","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T07:32:31","slug":"nasa-perseverance-rover-may-have-found-signs-of-a-powerful-ancient-river-on-mars","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/nasa-perseverance-rover-may-have-found-signs-of-a-powerful-ancient-river-on-mars\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA Perseverance rover may have found signs of a powerful ancient river on Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two new mosaic images captured by the rover could help in the search for signs of microbial life on the Red Planet. <\/p>

By Iain Todd\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 12 May 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Was planet Mars once a warm, temperate world with flowing liquid water like Earth?<\/p>\n

Planetary scientists believe that the Red Planet was a much more hospitable world in its ancient history, rather than the rust-coloured barren rocky planet explored today by rovers and orbiters.<\/p>\n

New images captured by NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover<\/a> could show evidence of what was once a flowing river on Mars, much faster-moving and deeper than planetary scientists have seen signs of in the past.<\/p>\n

If true, the Martian river would have been part of a larger network flowing into Jezero Crater, where the rover has been exploring since it landed on Mars<\/a> over two years ago.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
The rim of Jezero Crater \u2013 Perseverance\u2019s landing place and area of study \u2013 captured in a 360\u00b0 panorama by the Mastcam-Z instrument onboard the rover. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/MSSS\/ASU<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

What\u2019s more: understanding more about Mars\u2019s wet past and exploring evidence of ancient sites of flowing water could help locate signs of ancient microbial life that may be preserved in Mars\u2019s rocky topography.<\/p>\n

This is a key aim for the Perseverance rover: seeking out signs of ancient life by surveying Mars\u2019s geology and characterising its climate history.<\/p>\n

The region that Perseverance is currently exploring is a 250-metre tall pile of sedimentary rock that exhibits a curved layered structure, suggesting water once flowed there.<\/p>\n

The key question is: did that water once flow in shallow streams, or was it a more substantial river system?<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Illustration of Jezero Crater, Perseverance rover\u2019s landing site, as it may have looked billions of years ago, when it was a lake. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The new images from Perseverance are mosaics, composed of hundred of images captured by the rover\u2019s Mastcam-Z instrument, showing coarse sediment grains and cobbles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose indicate a high-energy river that\u2019s truckin\u2019 and carrying a lot of debris,\u201d says Libby Ives, a postdoctoral researcher at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory<\/a> in Southern California.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more powerful the flow of water, the more easily it\u2019s able to move larger pieces of material.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curving layers of rock within Jezero Crater were first seen by planetary scientists from space years ago, but Perseverance has provided a close-up look for the first time.<\/p>\n

These bands are part of a series of such structures known as \u2018the curvilinear unit\u2019, and one unit, which has been named \u2018Skrinkle Haven\u2019, is seen clearly in one of the new Perseverance images.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Bands of rocks on Mars in a region called \u2018Skrinkle Haven\u2019 that could have been formed by a fast, deep river. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/MSSS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

It seems these curves were caused by flowing water in Mars\u2019s ancient past, but was it a winding river, or a braided river that formed regions of sediment called sandbars?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one question scientists are keen to answer.<\/p>\n

NASA says the curved layers seem to be arranged in rows rippling out across the landscape.<\/p>\n

These could be the remnants of a river bank having shifted over time, or could be signs of ancient sandbars.<\/p>\n

These structures were most likely taller in the past, but have since been carved out by Martian winds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wind has acted like a scalpel that has cut the tops off these deposits,\u201d says Michael Lamb of Caltech<\/a>, a river specialist and Perseverance science team collaborator.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do see deposits like this on Earth, but they\u2019re never as well exposed as they are here on Mars. Earth is covered in vegetation that hides these layers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second image captured by Perseverance shows another curvilinear unit about 450 metres from Skrinkle Haven known as \u2018Pinestand\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
NASA\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover image of a hill named \u2018Pinestand\u2019 showing tall sedimentary layers could have been formed by a deep, powerful river. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/MSSS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

This is an isolated hill that shows sedimentary layers curving skyward, some as tall as 20 metres.<\/p>\n

These also could have been formed by a powerful river.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese layers are anomalously tall for rivers on Earth,\u201d says Ives. \u201cBut at the same time, the most common way to create these kinds of landforms would be a river.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s exciting here is we\u2019ve entered a new phase of Jezero\u2019s history. And it\u2019s the first time we\u2019re seeing environments like this on Mars,\u201d says Perseverance deputy project scientist Katie Stack Morgan of JPL.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thinking about rivers on a different scale than we have before.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Perseverance continues its exploration of Mars, thoughts also turn to the Perseverance sample return mission<\/a>, which will see samples of the Red Planet returned to Earth for study, for the first time in history.<\/p>\n

mars.nasa.gov\/mars2020<\/a><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two new mosaic images captured by the rover could help in the search for signs of microbial life on the Red Planet. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":44849,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/05\/nasa-perseverance-rover-may-have-found-signs-of-a-powerful-ancient-river-on-mars.jpg",611,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/05\/nasa-perseverance-rover-may-have-found-signs-of-a-powerful-ancient-river-on-mars-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/05\/nasa-perseverance-rover-may-have-found-signs-of-a-powerful-ancient-river-on-mars-255x300.jpg",255,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/05\/nasa-perseverance-rover-may-have-found-signs-of-a-powerful-ancient-river-on-mars.jpg",611,720,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/05\/nasa-perseverance-rover-may-have-found-signs-of-a-powerful-ancient-river-on-mars.jpg",611,720,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/05\/nasa-perseverance-rover-may-have-found-signs-of-a-powerful-ancient-river-on-mars.jpg",611,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/05\/nasa-perseverance-rover-may-have-found-signs-of-a-powerful-ancient-river-on-mars.jpg",611,720,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Two new mosaic images captured by the rover could help in the search for signs of microbial life on the Red Planet.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/44848"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}