After nearly five years on the Martian surface, NASA’s Perseverance rover is set to embark on an extended expedition, having already traversed nearly 25 miles (40 kilometers). The mission team has been diligently testing the rover’s durability while gathering new scientific data en route to a new region known as “Lac de Charmes.” Here, the rover will continue its quest for rock samples over the coming year.
Much like its predecessor, Curiosity, which has been exploring another part of Mars since 2012, Perseverance is engineered for longevity. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, responsible for building and managing the rover, has been conducting ongoing tests to ensure its components remain robust. This summer, JPL confirmed that the rotary actuators responsible for wheel movement are expected to function optimally for at least another 37 miles (60 kilometers), with similar testing underway for its braking systems.
Ensuring Longevity and Performance
Over the past two years, engineers have rigorously evaluated nearly all of Perseverance’s subsystems, concluding that they should remain operational until at least 2031. “These tests show the rover is in excellent shape,” stated Steve Lee, Perseverance’s deputy project manager at JPL, during a presentation at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting, the largest planetary science gathering in the United States. “All the systems are fully capable of supporting a very long-term mission to extensively explore this fascinating region of Mars.”
Perseverance’s journey through Mars’ Jezero Crater, an ancient lake and river system, has been marked by the collection of scientifically significant rock core samples. Notably, in September, the team announced that a sample from a rock dubbed “Cheyava Falls” might contain evidence of past microbial life.
Advancements in Autonomous Navigation
Equipped with a comprehensive suite of six scientific instruments, Perseverance also boasts advanced autonomous capabilities. A recent paper in IEEE Transactions on Field Robotics highlights the Enhanced Autonomous Navigation (ENav) tool, which enables the rover to autonomously navigate by assessing potential hazards up to 50 feet (15 meters) ahead and selecting a safe path.
While engineers meticulously plan the rover’s daily activities, once Perseverance begins its drive, it must independently navigate unexpected terrain obstacles. Unlike previous rovers, which struggled with closely clustered obstacles, Perseverance’s ENav system evaluates each wheel’s interaction with the terrain, considering various route options and human-designated “keep-in” or “keep-out” zones.
“More than 90% of Perseverance’s journey has relied on autonomous driving, making it possible to quickly collect a diverse range of samples,”
said Hiro Ono, a JPL autonomy researcher and lead author of the paper. “As humans go to the Moon and even Mars in the future, long-range autonomous driving will become more critical to exploring these worlds.”
New Scientific Discoveries
A paper published in Science details Perseverance’s findings in the “Margin Unit,” a geologic area at Jezero Crater’s inner edge. The rover collected three samples from this region, believed to be crucial in understanding how ancient Martian rocks interacted with water and the atmosphere, potentially creating life-supporting conditions.
From September 2023 to November 2024, Perseverance ascended 1,312 feet (400 meters) within the Margin Unit, focusing on rocks containing the mineral olivine. These minerals serve as geological timekeepers, capturing details about their formation conditions. Jezero Crater’s olivine, formed at high temperatures deep within Mars, offers insights into the planet’s interior processes.
Scientists believe the Margin Unit’s olivine formed through magma intrusion, where magma cools into igneous rock underground. Erosion later exposed this rock, allowing it to interact with water from the ancient lake and atmospheric carbon dioxide, forming carbonates that could preserve signs of past life and atmospheric changes.
“This combination of olivine and carbonate was a major factor in the choice to land at Jezero Crater,”
said Ken Williford, lead author of the paper and a Perseverance science team member at Blue Marble Space Institute of Science. “These minerals are powerful recorders of planetary evolution and the potential for life.”
As Perseverance departs the Margin Unit for Lac de Charmes, the team anticipates collecting new olivine-rich samples to compare with previous findings, further unraveling Mars’ geological history.
Looking Ahead
Managed by Caltech for NASA, JPL oversees Perseverance’s operations as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. As the rover embarks on its next phase, the mission continues to push the boundaries of autonomous exploration and scientific discovery on the Red Planet.
With its advanced capabilities and robust design, Perseverance is poised to uncover more secrets of Mars, contributing to our understanding of the planet’s past and the broader quest for signs of life beyond Earth.
