Publication
Geological, multispectral, and meteorological imaging results from the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover in Jezero crater.
Publisher:
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date:
25-11-2022
DOI:
10.1126/SCIADV.ABO4856
Abstract: Perseverance's Mastcam-Z instrument provides high-resolution stereo and multispectral images with a unique combination of spatial resolution, spatial coverage, and wavelength coverage along the rover's traverse in Jezero crater, Mars. Images reveal rocks consistent with an igneous (including volcanic and/or volcaniclastic) and/or impactite origin and limited aqueous alteration, including polygonally fractured rocks with weathered coatings massive boulder-forming bedrock consisting of mafic silicates, ferric oxides, and/or iron-bearing alteration minerals and coarsely layered outcrops dominated by olivine. Pyroxene dominates the iron-bearing mineralogy in the fine-grained regolith, while olivine dominates the coarse-grained regolith. Solar and atmospheric imaging observations show significant intra- and intersol variations in dust optical depth and water ice clouds, as well as unique ex les of boundary layer vortex action from both natural (dust devil) and Ingenuity helicopter-induced dust lifting. High-resolution stereo imaging also provides geologic context for rover operations, other instrument observations, and s le selection, characterization, and confirmation.