Perseverance rover arrives at ancient Mars river delta

NASA's Mars rover Perseverance has arrived at the ancient river delta that once existed on the floor of Jezero Crater. The rover took this image on April 16, 2022.
NASA's Mars rover Perseverance has arrived at the ancient river delta that once existed on the floor of Jezero Crater. The rover took this image on April 16, 2022. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU)

NASA's life-hunting Perseverance Mars rover just reached a big mission milestone.

Perseverance has arrived safely at the remains of an ancient Red Planet river delta on the floor of the 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater, NASA announced today (April 19).

Mission team members said the delta will be a "veritable geologic feast" for Perseverance, which is hunting for signs of fossilized Mars life. (The most promising rocks will be cached for a sample-return mission campaign that NASA and its European counterpart intend to launch later this decade.)

"We've been eyeing the delta from a distance for more than a year while we explored the crater floor," Ken Farley, Perseverance project scientist at the California Institute of Technology, said in a statement Wednesday (April 19) from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which manages Perseverance's mission. 

Now that the rover is in the region, its next moves will be "obtaining images of ever-greater detail revealing where we can best explore these important rocks," Farley added.

Related: 12 amazing photos from the Perseverance rover's 1st year on Mars

Perseverance landed in February 2021 inside Jezero Crater, which mission scientists have said hosted a lake and a river delta billions of years ago. Such conditions should be amenable to microbes, meaning the delta region is a rich area to search for signs of Mars life (if it ever existed).

The rover was working somewhat south and west of its landing site during its first (Earth) year on Mars but recently made it way back through the touchdown area to get to the delta. Perseverance will spend about the next week driving to the southwest, and the west, to figure out how best to explore this patch of the delta.

Perseverance's data suggests that the delta deposits are about 130 feet (40 meters) above the crater floor, and the teams are considering two options, according to the JPL statement. The preferred route, at least for now, is through a region nicknamed "Hawksbill Gap," as it appears to be reachable in a shorter time. But a backup option, "Cape Nukshak," is available in case data in the coming days shows it to be a safer route.

The Perseverance rover spots its parachute on this image taken on April 8, 2022.

The Perseverance rover spots its parachute on this image taken on April 8, 2022. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

"Whichever route Perseverance takes to the plateau atop the delta, the team will perform detailed science investigations, including taking rock core samples, on the way up, then turn around and do the same thing on the way back down," JPL officials said in the statement.

The rover will spend roughly six months picking up eight samples during this maneuvering campaign, called Delta Front. The plan then calls for Perseverance to go on top of the delta again, perhaps taking the backup option to sample a region untraveled before, to spend six more months on a "Delta Top Campaign."

"The delta is why Perseverance was sent to Jezero Crater: It has so many interesting features," Farley said. "We will look for signs of ancient life in the rocks at the base of the delta, rocks that we think were once mud on the bottom of 'Lake Jezero.'"

Perseverance will also attempt to pick up sand and rock fragments originating from upstream, in areas that the rover is not expected to visit during its lifetime on Mars. Farley said the geography will be an immense help: "We can take advantage of an ancient Martian river that brought the planet's geological secrets to us."

JPL officials added that Perseverance began its second science campaign a month earlier than expected, due to its upgraded autonomous hazard-detection system that allows it to dodge obstacles in Jezero Crater such as boulders, sharp rocks, craters and sandpits. (The rover was commanded to halt and turn in place 55 times to avoid hazards during this latest road trip, JPL added.)

By contrast, NASA's decade-older Curiosity Mars rover had to turn back recently from a planned route due to dangerous "gator-back" terrain. Curiosity also sports an older version of Martian wheel less optimized for the sometimes treacherous terrain, as compared to Perseverance. JPL officials say that Percy's wheels have twice as many treads and a gentle curve, which is more adaptable to the terrain.

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Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace