﻿In this video, Perseverance watches its friend Ingenuity, finds circular markings on the ground
and spots a sombrero on Mars. Perseverance is finishing up
activities at the Dream Lake site. This area is rich in olivine crystals.
Nearby, the rover spots something incredible. It’s a rock that resembles a crab claw.
On sol 893, the rover is instructed to perform another abrasion on the ground.
The operation is successful, and the patch is pictured.
Perseverance admires its work and checks the tool for damage.
As night falls, the rover continues to examine the abrasion patch.
When lit with the rover's UV lighting, the patch shows more olivine crystals.
Meanwhile, Ingenuity performs a short hop. Our little helicopter friend is getting closer to
the ancient riverbed. The goal is to investigate this area. Due to the deep sand deposits,
much of the riverbed will be impassable for Perseverance. The team will have to be extra
careful when navigating around it. Luckily, the sand poses no danger to Ingenuity.
The helicopter takes stunning colour images from the air. The crater rim
is visible in the distance. In this image, we can see the
ancient river channel carving its way through the crater rim.
Back on the ground, Perseverance spots a dust devil. This video is sped up by a factor of 20,
and the dust devil is estimated to be around 200 feet, or 60 metres wide.
Ingenuity takes off again, gaining more ground towards Neretva Vallis. The team at NASA are
pushing the little helicopter to get to the ancient river channel as fast as possible.
Ingenuity captures a color image from the air. The crater rim can be seen in the distance.
The rover is instructed to catch up with Ingenuity, but spots a strange rock.
Perseverance can't help but stop and take a high-definition mosaic.
However, the NASA team is eager for the rover to move on. Perseverance waves goodbye to
the unnamed rock, which we can see on the right, and sets off on a long drive.
On the way, the rover sends back some images of the accumulated dust over its three-year journey.
This level of dust accumulation is average and should pose no danger to the mission.
Perseverance is driving over rugged terrain. Boulders surround the rover,
and its options are limited. In this image, we can see that the rover
has had to drive straight over a rock. Some of these rocks are highly unusual. The
official name of this one is 'Middle Mountain'. However, due to its resemblance to the classic
hat, it gained the nickname' sombrero rock'. This rock captivates the science team here
on Earth, as it could be an example of 'case hardening' on Mars. Case hardening is when the
outer layer of a rock gets harder than the inside because of things like water or chemicals. Then,
when the rock starts to wear away, it wears away more from the softer inside, leaving
behind fantastic shapes on the outside. The rover has passed a critical threshold. It
has successfully left the perilous boulder field and is entering a region known as the
'Mandu Wall'. This is the closest the rover has been to the crater rim, and Perseverance has
now successfully traversed over 20km. In this new region, the rover immediately
begins to see new types of rocks. This one appears to form a perfect circle. The NASA
team is still determining what could have caused this. While the rover investigates,
Ingenuity takes off for flight number 58. During the flight, which lasts just under
2 minutes, Ingenuity takes an incredible color image, again showing Neretva Vallis,
the ancient river channel. With each flight the helicopter is getting closer.
Back on the ground, Perseverance takes a high-quality mosaic of a rock near
the circular features. The rock contains hundreds of small nodules, similar to the
type of rock we saw back on sol 874 at Dream Lake, which contained olivine crystals.
The rover takes a full-circle panorama so we can see this area better. In the distance, we can see
the Neretva Vallis channel. The curved nature of the rocks in this area is of great interest
to the NASA team. They order Perseverance to take a high-definition mosaic.
What could have caused the circular features in this area? Is it possible that these angular
rocks are evidence of microbial life? Perseverance is eager to investigate,
but it has another job to do right now. Ahead of flight number 59, Perseverance spots
its friend. Now that Perseverance has a good line of sight, the team at NASA orders the rover to
capture a video of Ingenuity’s next flight. The helicopter gets right to it.
It’s a hover flight, and the team is interested in pushing Ingenuity’s boundaries. They have
pre-instructed it to fly to a new record height of 20 metres, or 66 feet.
Our little helicopter friend flies up in stages, gaining height and
then taking a second to rest. The flight is a resounding success,
and Perseverance is eager to return to its investigation of the circular rocks. First,
however, the NASA team wants the rover to take a sample from the rock with many tiny nodules.
Perseverance uses its rock abrasion tool and then takes some pictures of the patch.
While the NASA team examines the images, Perseverance creates a high-definition
panorama of the Mandu Wall region. We can see the Neretva Vallis channel and even our
little helicopter friend. Can you spot it? Perseverance looks back at the recently abraded
rock and is ordered to take a drill sample. Perseverance gets right to work.
The whole process takes about 23 minutes in real-time. The drilling is a success.
The rover captures an image of the rock sample.
Ingenuity takes off yet again. It's really moving now. The flight lasts over 2 minutes,
and the helicopter takes more colour images. Here, we can see the banks of what used to
be the Neretva Vallis river channel. Meanwhile, Perseverance is once again studying the
rock with the circular marking. The team at NASA determines that the rock is geologic in origin and
shows no signs of past microbial life. Spheroidal weathering is the most likely explanation.
However, the rock is undoubtedly fascinating, having an almost perfect circle carved on it.
Rocks such as these can trigger our imaginations and are part of what we are here to find.
Perseverance looks towards a small hill. In the middle ground, we can see a rock showing signs
of stratification. This may have been caused by water or the wind depositing minerals and
creating this layered structure. NASA orders Ingenuity to perform another
hover flight. The team is gathering valuable data and pushing boundaries again. This time,
Ingenuity flies to a new record height of 24 meters, or 79 feet.
Nearby the rover is another exciting rock. Perseverance takes a high-definition image.
Once again, the rock contains hundreds of small nodules, which seems to be a
common occurrence in this area. The rover further examines the surface of
the rock using its Watson camera. The camera provides a better view of
this miniature landscape. Perseverance is now ready to take a drill sample.
First, the rover abrades the rock. The operation is successful and reveals an exciting patch.
The patch contains what looks like hydrated silica. This is
interesting because it holds the greatest potential for finding biosignatures.
As usual, the rover checks the tool for any damage. The tool has now performed
over 22 abrasions in its nearly three-year life on Mars.
Perseverance takes a high-definition image of part of the rock. The nodules continue;
there are thousands. The rover gets a closer look
using its WATSON camera. Meanwhile, Ingenuity takes to
the skies for flight 62 and captures another breathtaking image.
The image looks back down the delta face, reminding us that
we are now on higher ground. Perseverance takes a drill sample. The NASA
team names the sample the Lefroy Bay sample. This sample will be stored aboard the rover and
hopefully delivered to the sample return mission, which could fetch this sample back to Earth.
As Perseverance starts another long drive, it's surrounded by rocks and must carefully choose
a path. In this image, we can see that the rover has had to drive over many rocks.
Meanwhile, Ingenuity performs a few more flights and is now closer than
ever to the ancient river channel. Flight 64 provides the best color image yet
of Neretva Vallis. You can clearly see the banks of the channel and the small tributary channel
where the helicopter will land. Some would argue that the helicopter has landed in the
ancient river. Could this small raised sand bar have been an island once in Mars' history?
Perseverance certainly has some catching up to do.
For now, however, the rover is busy investigating the sand. You can see holes where the rover
trained its laser. The rover takes a closer
look using its supercam. Perseverance also spends a few days looking
at the sky. Mars has thin clouds similar to cirrus clouds on Earth, but they're made of ice,
not water. The cold and thin atmosphere means there's very little water vapor, so if all
the water in the atmosphere were gathered, it would be thinner than a hair.
A solar conjunction is fast approaching. Mars will be behind the Sun, and contact
with Earth will be lost. Perseverance is looking for a parking spot.
Ingenuity performs a quick up-and-down flight before
the conjunction and takes a color image. The image shows the dunes in the Neretva Vallis
tributary channel. This area would be perilous for Perseverance.
As the conjunction begins, Perseverance stops all driving. The team at NASA don’t want to
risk any signals being scrambled by the Sun and Perseverance misinterpreting a message.
The rover takes a detailed panorama while stationary. The team at NASA will receive
this once the conjunction has finished. In the next episode, disaster strikes the
Ingenuity helicopter, as part of its rotor is ripped off. We will explore what happened and
why. Is our little helicopter friend grounded forever? Or does NASA have another plan?
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