NASA’s Perseverance rover has reached the top rim of Jezero Crater, marking the start of its fifth science campaign. According to Universe Today, the rover climbed 500 vertical meters (1,640 feet) over three and a half months to reach “Lookout Hill,” a key location for studying ancient Martian environments.
Chosen as the rover’s landing site in 2018, Jezero Crater was once an ancient lake bed with a clay-rich delta fan, making it an ideal location to search for biosignatures—evidence of past life. Since landing in February 2021, Perseverance has completed four campaigns exploring the crater floor, delta deposits, and marginal carbonate rocks at the crater’s edge.
The new “Northern Rim” campaign will cover 6.4 km (4 miles) over the next year, focusing on diverse geological features. Ken Farley, Perseverance project scientist at Caltech, highlighted the importance of the rim rocks:
“These are some of the oldest rocks in the solar system, offering a glimpse into early Martian—and Earth—history.”
The campaign’s first stop is “Witch Hazel Hill,” a layered outcrop providing a record of Mars’ ancient environments. As the rover descends the rim, it will study changes in geology over time. The route also includes “Lac de Charmes,” a site beyond the crater rim, and a return climb to investigate “megabreccia” blocks possibly linked to the Isidis impact, a massive event that reshaped Mars’ surface 3.9 billion years ago.
The Noachian Period, when the Isidis impact occurred, was a time of significant erosion and flowing water on Mars. Studying these areas may reveal biosignatures from Mars’ wetter, potentially habitable past.
Steven Lee, Perseverance deputy project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, praised the team’s navigation of challenging terrain:
“Our drivers used innovative techniques like driving backward to overcome obstacles. Perseverance is ready for this new chapter.”
The discoveries from this campaign could offer critical insights into Mars’ history, including whether life once existed on the Red Planet.
Photo: NASA
