In this video, a bright object is following the Perseverance rover.
We may have found evidence of alien life in the form of lichen,
and we are digging for actual Martian jewels. Meanwhile, Ingenuity performs an emergency
landing and loses contact with NASA. This video is part of a series
documenting the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter every three months.
The rover currently sits on the edge of the Belva crater and investigates
sediments from ancient streams. Some of these sediments have proven to be highly crumbly.
The long-term plan for Perseverance is to explore 'Naretva Vallis',
which looks like an ancient riverbed. Water spilt out into the delta from this river,
filling much of Jezero Crater. Some of the boulders in this
area are very strange. This one is cracked in half.
It was likely brought here by fast-flowing water. This rock shows signs of weathering, making the
shape of a face with two eyes and a mouth. Perseverance takes a closer look. It's
possible some of these boulders came from tens of kilometers away.
On Sol 802, the team at NASA orders the rover to take a drill sample. Perseverance records
the operation, which takes about 20 minutes. You can see the rover's shadow moving with the sun.
Something else to note here is a rock that Perseverance drove over, creating a fine
imprint in the sand. Throughout the 20-minute operation, we can see the action of the wind
moving small particles and sand. This camera provides a better
view of the drilling itself. Perseverance looks at the drill site,
and the team is desperately trying to get a visual of the sample in the sample tube.
Unfortunately, the sample is not intact, and only about 1.3 centimeters was
retrieved successfully. Perseverance tries again,
this time on the abrasion spot. Similarly, the rock is too crumbly.
The rover looks out at the Belva crater before moving 20 meters to another intriguing site.
Perseverance examines its new surroundings with a high-definition mosaic. Sedimentary layers
can be seen poking out of the rock face. The rover drives a short distance to get
another look at these layers. You can see the rover tracks in the foreground.
The rocks here have proven too crumbly, but the team desperately wants to sample this
type of rock a site known as 'Emerald Lake' is chosen for the next sample attempt.
On Sol 821, the rover comes across some extraordinary rocks. They appear to have
been carved out by some geological process. This one has the shape of a humanoid mouth.
These strange formations are likely due to a process known as cavernous weathering.
This smaller rock is an excellent example of cavernous weathering. It's the process of how
caves form on Earth. On Earth, cavernous weathering often occurs by water action,
where debris in the water is trapped in currents, carving out rocks over time.
These rocks are further possible indications of past huge water flows in this area.
The rover reaches Emerald Lake after a short drive. The layering here is precisely
what the team at NASA wants to sample. Hopefully, this time, it's manageable.
Perseverance records the drilling. The sample is pictured immediately and found
to be intact finally, a success for the rover. The team name the sample tube 'Otis Peak'. These
crumbly rocks are essential because they are known as conglomerates. Suppose we get these
samples back to Earth. In that case, they can indicate when Mars lost its magnetic field, which
is of utmost importance for life to evolve. Just as the rover finishes science activities
and photographs its surroundings, something strange happens. Communication with Earth is lost.
The rover has entered safe mode four times since its landing but usually
resumes contact within three days. Worryingly, it takes a long five days
before contact is reestablished. While the engineers at NASA try to
determine what caused this communication dropout, the rover returns to work,
capturing an image of its recent drill site. With this successful sample, Perseverance and
the Science Team plan to drive to a location known as 'Snowdrift Peak.'
However, the rover sees something strange in the distance. This rock on the horizon
appears to have a hole through it. Perseverance uses its 'supercam' to
get a better view. This rock is likely
another example of cavernous weathering. Perseverance begins to drive away from the
Emerald Lake site, onwards to Snowdrift Peak. There is a hope among NASA team members that
the rover can get back in touch with Ingenuity, which has been out of range for quite some time.
On Sol 836, Perseverance comes across another example of cavernous weathering. This rock
has been carved out exceptionally well. The rover reaches Snowdrift Peak after a
short drive and looks around. In the distance, we can see the beauty of the sloping hills
of the Jezero crater wall. There are many exciting rocks
in this location. Possibly yet more examples of cavernous weathering.
Once we head further upriver, we may encounter a cave big enough for the
rover to poke its camera in. Due to the amount of sharp and
potentially dangerous rocks, the team at NASA ask Perseverance to record a bottom
view during its next short drive. This sequence shows how good the
autonomous driving software is, selecting a route with few obstacles surrounded by a
minefield of potential dangers. The drive takes about 16 minutes in real time.
The rover looks out over the rugged landscape. From its current position and the expected
position of Ingenuity, Perseverance should be able to contact the helicopter.
But nothing breaks the silence. The rover can see no evidence of the helicopter. The team at NASA is
feeling uneasy. What has happened to Ingenuity? The rover continues working at Snowdrift Peak,
feeling lonely without a friend. On Sol 843, the rover captures
something incredible a bright object on the Martian surface. We've seen something
like this before, way back on Sol 467. It's likely a piece of spacecraft debris
called 'multi-layer insulation' from the sky-crane, which flew away
and crashed after Perseverance touched down. But why does it seem to be following the rover?
We established in a previous episode that this piece of debris is moving with the wind, but
could it have traveled nearly 3 kilometers up over the delta? Or is this another piece altogether?
The shape and size of both objects are similar, so even though it's unlikely,
it may be the very same piece. If it's not the same piece, then it shows just how far the debris
was ejected when the crash landing happened. On Sol 845, the rover captures this image of some
of the boulders in the area, and the team at NASA makes an interesting observation.
It's theorized that the boulders were deposited here by a more robust water system than the
one that deposited the pebbles. Because the boulders sit on the smaller rocks and pebbles,
the team believes this more powerful water system was much more recent than initially thought.
Perseverance passes an exciting rock that the team at NASA names 'Dragon's Egg.'
The rover is instructed to gather up-close images, known as 'proximity science.' The
team at NASA would like to sample this rock. Perseverance attempts to abrade the rock and
takes a high-definition mosaic of its work. Unfortunately, the operation was unsuccessful,
and the rock was too hard. You can see the mark left on the rock; it looks
like the tool slipped during the abrasion. The rover takes a break from its rockwork and
looks west towards the towering crater rim. This is a stunning image because we can see
the vast walls of the Jezero crater on each side of the ancient river system,
which carved its way through. For now, we can only dream of the images
the rover will capture when it ventures into the ancient riverbed unless you're from the future,
in which case, keep watching the episodes. The rover tries to perform an abrasion patch
once again on the Dragon's Egg rock. It starts by using its gaseous dust removal tool.
Now that the dust is clear, Perseverance gets some close-up images of the rock.
Given the greenish hue, the rock looks rich in olivine minerals.
The rover gets busy trying to use its abrasion tool once again. This time,
the operation is recorded. After checking the tool for damage, the
team ask Perseverance to photograph the patch. The operation went a little smoother this time,
but the patch is still not as deep as usual. You can see the bright tailings from the abrasion,
which have also littered the surface of Mars. While looking at the patch, the team spot
something strange. It's a dark circular marking on the rock.
The rover is instructed to take lots of images. Some people believe that these
markings could be remnants of lichen. Here's an example of lichen on Earth.
It's also noteworthy that in 2013, a study was published in the journal 'Planetary Space and
Science,' showing that certain species of lichen could survive in simulated Mars environments.
After gathering data, the rover focuses back on its abrasion patch.
The team observes the patch under the rover's UV lights to better understand what makes up
the rock. This rock is deemed too challenging for further drilling.
On Sol 857, the rover comes across another similar rock, which will hopefully be softer.
The surface of the rock shows some strange textures. Perseverance is
ordered to use the rock abrasion tool. Again, the rock is hard, and the abrasion
tool doesn't penetrate very deep. The rover takes some stunning
images of the abrasion patch. While capturing pictures of the patch,
the team again spot something interesting. It's another dark patch, very similar to the previous
one. This has happened on Mars before. In 2005, the Spirit rover captured this
image. It looks very similar to lichen on Earth. However, it was a part of the rover scratching
the rock when performing abrasion operations. Could something similar be happening here?
This has happened on Mars before. If we look at both images, they are
a similar distance from the abrasion patch and similar in size. Likely, these dark patches are
simply a byproduct of the abrasion operation. They are probably minor scratches from the two
finger-like stabilizers on the rover's arm. However, NASA is fascinated with them, and these
small abrasions can provide more information about what's just under the surface of these rocks.
The rover gets busy drilling. Unfortunately, yet again, the rock is too hard.
After checking for any damage to the drill bit,
the rover is ordered to move westwards towards another outcrop named 'Dream Lake.'
Perseverance moves quickly, running over small rocks on its way.
On Sol 870, Perseverance stops dead in its tracks. The rover has spotted something.
It's the helicopter! But it shouldn't be in this area.
Perseverance turns to get a better view. If the rover could speak, it might warn
Ingenuity about the dangers of being run down by a Mars rover.
Now that the two explorers are within range, Ingenuity tells
the team at NASA what has happened. The helicopter is not where it should
be because it had to perform an emergency landing. This was caused by dropped frames
from its navigation camera, which has happened before, and the team thought they'd already fixed
it. However, their software update only accounted for so many dropped frames.
Due to the issue, Perseverance watches as Ingenuity performs a
short up-and-down flight after the team at NASA applies another software update.
The helicopter rises to an altitude of 16 feet, or 5 meters,
before rotating left and touching back down. As Ingenuity lands, it bounces slightly, which
is typical for landing on this type of terrain. It also captures a color image from the sky
and can even see its big rover friend tentatively watching.
On Sol 874, the rover reaches Dream Lake and comes across a rock with a strange texture. It appears
to have hundreds of small nodules. Perseverance examines the tiny landscape using its arm.
The rock is littered with small pebbles and clumps of dust.
Perseverance uses its gaseous dust removal tool, revealing a spectacular assortment of crystals.
Given the greenish hue and the amount of Olivine detected in the area by other NASA missions,
these are likely olivine crystals. On Earth, a typical gemstone of Olivine
is worth around 50 to 500 dollars. However, it's safe to say these Martian gems would
fetch a far higher price. Excited by this finding,
the rover gets busy abrading. The operation goes smoothly, as the rock
is significantly softer than the previous 2. The patch is photographed and shows what appears
to be small veins of olivine-like minerals. Perseverance takes one last look at Ingenuity
before they part ways once again. On Sol 881, the helicopter takes
off for flight number 55. It's heading west, over a
small ridge, scouting the way for Perseverance. Ingenuity spots a strange formation and has a good
look at it before deciding on a spot to land. It managed to snap a quick color image of the
formation from above. Meanwhile, Perseverance
is still studying the olivine-rich rock and has been ordered to take a sample.
The rover records the drilling, which is a complete success.
The sample is clearly seen inside the tube, and when returned to Earth,
it may contain some Martian jewels. Happy with its work at Dream Lake,
Perseverance now moves on. Westwards, to the ancient riverbed.
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