Latest news with #MastcamZ
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4 days ago
- Science
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Mars Looks Strangely Familiar in Stunning New Panorama
With just a splash of color, the red planet's horizons can look remarkably like our own – blue skies and all. A 360-degree panorama, taken by the Perseverance Rover on Mars, could just as easily have been snapped in a rocky desert somewhere here on Earth. The difference lies in a subtle tweak to the color contrast. Related: "The relatively dust-free skies provide a clear view of the surrounding terrain," says planetary scientist Jim Bell, the principal investigator of the rover's 'eyes' – the two cameras of the Mastcam-Z instrument. "In this particular mosaic, we have enhanced the color contrast, which accentuates the differences in the terrain and sky." The only time the red planet's skies should look this blue is during a sunset – the opposite of the color scheme we see here on Earth. Yet with just a hint of color enhancement, the resulting landscape is strangely familiar. Looking through Percy's eyes across the jagged rocks, ripples of sand, and rolling hills, you can almost imagine you are standing in the Atacama desert. That stark similarity is precisely why NASA scientists are testing future rovers in the Chilean desert. Already, they have successfully detected molecular evidence of life there "in one of the most biologically sparse environments on Earth," according to a 2023 paper published in Astrobiology. The hope is that one day, these new-and-improved rovers will join Perseverance, Opportunity, and Curiosity on Mars to accomplish similar feats. But seeing the red planet through an Earthly lens is like wearing rose-tinted glasses. It sure looks promising, but as you can see from the natural-color version of the image, there's a lot that sets Mars apart from the Atacama. As the fourth planet from the Sun, Mars receives less than half of the sunlight that Earth does, and the volume of its atmosphere is less than 1 percent of that of Earth's atmosphere. Whether remnants of ancient life can exist under such hostile and destructive conditions remains to be seen… possibly with Percy's own two eyes. Related News The Perseids Meteor Shower Peaks This Week: Here's When to Look Up Atlanta Home Struck by Meteorite Older Than Earth 36 Billion Suns: Record Black Hole Discovery Could Be as Big as They Get Solve the daily Crossword
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5 days ago
- Science
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NASA's Perseverance rover captures image on Mars that resembles a helmet
NASA's Perseverance rover has added to its trove of curious finds, as the space agency published a photo of a rock on the surface of Mars that looks like a centuries-old helmet. The rock has a pointed peak, a flared "brim," and textures that could lead reasonable observers to compare it to a witch's hat or a tent. The texture is formed by spherules on the rock. Similar formations found on Earth are created through chemical weathering, mineral precipitation or volcanic processes, according to The image, taken Aug. 5 by the rover's Left Mastcam-Z camera, was chosen as the photo of the week for week 234 of its mission on Mars. "This rock's target name is Horneflya and it's distinctive less because of its hat shape (which looks to me to be generally consistent with the pyramid shape we often see in of wind-eroded float blocks on the surface of Mars) and more because it's made almost entirely of spherules," David Agle, a spokesperson for the Perseverance team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told the space news outlet. It is not the first time the rover has found a spherule-covered rock, having sent back a photo of a studded rock in March. Camera key to Mars discoveries The Left Mastcam-Z camera on the Perseverance can capture panoramic color and 3D images of the planet's surface, according to NASA, allowing scientists and observers to see Martian features more clearly. The rover is searching for signs of ancient microbial life as a part of a larger undertaking to understand the habitability of Mars. The helmet rock provides scientist a clue on what Mar's environmental history, according to Perseverance was sent to survey Jezero Crater to study the "wet history" of the Red Planet. The rover completed the climb to the summit of the crater in December 2024, three years after landing. "Conceivably, microbial life could have lived in Jezero during one or more of these wet times," NASA says on the home page for the mission. "If so, signs of their remains might be found in lakebed or shoreline sediments." Perseverance's research is intended to pave the way for humans to reach Mars in the years ahead under NASA's Artemis program, which will begin with astronauts returning to the moon to establish a base of operations. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has also expressed his vision of launching uncrewed trips to the Red Planet before humans reach it ‒ perhaps as early as 2028. Contributing: Eric Lagatta – USA TODAY This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA's Perseverance rover makes another strange finding: See photo
