This illustration depicts NASA’s Mars 2020 rover learning rocks with its robotic arm. Credit score: NASA/JPL-Caltech
What does Percy do all day? A Martian day- or Sol- is 24 hours and 37 minutes lengthy, and whereas each Sol is completely different, every one is packed stuffed with thrilling science actions, observations, and discoveries! Let’s observe Percy on Sol 345 (February 8th, 2022) to catch a glimpse into the every day lifetime of a Martian explorer.
Percy awoke early within the morning at 02:07 LMST (Native Imply Photo voltaic Time on Mars) to conduct a knowledge administration exercise for an onboard instrument referred to as MEDA (Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer), which makes use of a set of sensors to observe climate all through the Sol. After a brief nap, it was time to get up once more and ship knowledge from the earlier Sol’s observations right down to scientists on Earth by way of Mars orbiters and the Deep House Community (DSN). Mars is circled by a number of orbiting satellites that relay data between the rover and mission management: every Sol’s plan with instructions for each exercise is uplinked from Earth to Mars as soon as within the morning, whereas photographs and data collected by rover devices are downlinked from Mars to Earth a number of occasions all through the day and night time.
A Morning Atmospheric Science Remark on Sol 345: This picture of the Solar was taken by Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z. The sort of remark is known as a “fundamental tau” and is used to assist characterize the ambiance. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
The solar rose at 05:16, and the rover performed a collection of every day engineering actions to ship extra knowledge to Earth, handle energy, and take a look at numerous devices till the Sol 345 plan was uplinked from mission management and obtained round 11:00. At 11:37, Percy used Mastcam-Z to take a “fundamental tau” aimed skyward in direction of the Solar, with the purpose of measuring atmospheric optical density. At 11:50, Ingenuity took off for its 19th flight on Mars, photographing Séítah from above.
Whereas the helicopter was flying over Séítah, Percy used SuperCam, Mastcam-Z, and WATSON (Broad Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) to look at 4 close by rock targets referred to as Vergons, Galabre, Montpezat, and Tragastel. First, SuperCam used its laser to concurrently collect details about the minerals contained in these rocks and clear away mud from the surfaces. Subsequent, Mastcam-Z took some 3d stereo photographs documenting the targets. These two actions started at 12:09 and took about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Lastly, the rover’s robotic arm was deployed at 13:54 in order that the arm-mounted WATSON might rise up shut and private to seize photographs in positive element, from only a few centimeters away. Afterward, WATSON was turned off and the arm re-stowed. One in every of these targets could be chosen for an abrasion exercise within the subsequent Sol, and the observations gathered by the three devices offered key data to assist the scientists and engineers select the perfect one- which ended up being Montepezat!
From 16:10- 16:33 within the late afternoon, Percy took some atmospheric measurements, together with one other Mastcam-Z “fundamental tau” and a skyward Navcam picture to search for clouds. Sundown was at 17:26, and the night was crammed with extra knowledge transfers over the DSN and an engineering exercise to check out some new maneuvers for the ACA (Adaptive Caching Meeting), which is the a part of the rover that shops cores after they're drilled. Lastly, Percy went to sleep simply earlier than 21:00, drained out after one other lengthy but thrilling Sol on Mars!
Written by Denise Buckner, Pupil Collaborator at College of Florida.
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