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  • If anyone knows anything about exploring the landscape of Mars, it's NASA.

  • Their four previous rovers, Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity,

  • have travelled across the planet's surface for years,

  • observing everything Mars has to offer, from its rocks to its horizons.

  • Except now, scientists want more than to just look at the red planet. They want a piece of it.

  • So, NASA is sending their most advanced rover, Perseverance, on their upcoming mission.

  • The Mars 2020 mission is NASA's next Flagship Rover mission.

  • We are going to Mars to be part of the first step of Mars Sample Return,

  • and we are also seeking signs of ancient life in the ancient rocks.

  • Mars is not only a planet close to Earth,

  • but it's possibly the most similar to ourswhich is why we keep going back.

  • We're still so intrigued by Mars because at the same time that life was arising here on our own planet,

  • it was potentially arising on a planet like Mars.

  • To answer that fundamental question, NASA scientists have pinpointed what they consider a prime location

  • to send their rover to: a region known as Jezero crater.

  • Jezero crater is a really unique and scientifically compelling landing site

  • for the Perseverance mission because it has evidence for an ancient lake.

  • We know that based on our rock record here on Earth.

  • Lake deposits are really calm environments where you basically just have the trickle down of sediment

  • into the bottom of the lake.

  • And if you have life there, it gets buried and preserved.

  • So, that's exactly the type of thing that we're looking for with Perseverance.

  • Perseverance will have an initial mission duration of 1 Martian year,

  • or roughly two Earth years, to collect and sample as many sediments as it possibly can.

  • That way, future missions can retrieve those samples, which NASA hopes to achieve by the 2030's.

  • And Perseverance is definitely built for the challenge.

  • This rover is the most sophisticated vehicle from NASA to land on the red planet,

  • with hundreds of hours of labor advancing almost every aspect of the rover.

  • Essentially, scientists want the vehicle to be an extension of themselves.

  • What would a researcher on Mars want to see, feel, and even hear?

  • Which is why this time, Perseverance will be equipped with microphones.

  • For example, when we drill rocks and we can see how hard or soft they are,

  • but we've never really had sound or the ability to hear on Mars.

  • There's even an instrument on board known as the SuperCam,

  • which will shoot lasers at rocks and vaporize them to produce plasma,

  • which its spectrometer can then analyze.

  • BUT also listen in to...

  • So, we expect to hear the kindzipsound that would form.

  • We have scientists who are working to understand what that sound can tell us about the properties of the rocks.

  • You also might learn something about the atmosphere that the sound has to travel through

  • and that the laser has to travel through.

  • Andhearingis just ONE of many incredible features of this rover.

  • Perseverance is equipped with a suite of instruments and tools

  • starting with an aerospace industry standard processor and memory as itsbrains,"

  • twenty-three cameras to help itsee,”

  • newly designed titanium wheels to help it travel,

  • a nuclear power generator as its energy,

  • and something that no other rover has had before: the star of the show,

  • a brand new sampling processing system.

  • So, since we are a part of sample return, our objective is to collect and cache samples.

  • We obtain cores of rock and sand from the Martian surface and we store them in super clean tubes.

  • Because we want to make sure that when we bring those samples back,

  • if we find evidence for life, it's not life that we brought with us.

  • But this sampling cache won't be alone in deciphering what's life and what's not.

  • Another part of Perseverance is its new suite of instruments that reside on its specialarm."

  • Those instruments are able to both observe very fine details in the rocks that we see,

  • but also map composition and the distribution of organic molecules in the rocks that we see.

  • By putting together those fine textures, plus the composition, plus the organics,

  • that's really how you build a case for a biosignature, which is any kind of pattern

  • or texture or substance that requires life to form.

  • That's really what we're searching for.

  • Throughout its entire search, Perseverance will be looking for those biosignatures

  • because they could upend everything we know.

  • If we found what we thought was real potential evidence for life, it wouldn't just fill a knowledge gap for Mars

  • it would fill a knowledge gap for us.

  • That's incredibly exciting because there are likely many other places in the universe that could host life.

  • When the rover lands in February of 2021, the potential for what Perseverance could discover is huge.

  • Which is why its upcoming launch is so exciting.

  • Accompanying the rover will be an aircraft known as Ingenuity,

  • which will conduct a controlled experimental flight test on Mars,

  • the first of its kind to ever be put on another planet.

  • If Ingenuity succeeds, a future Mars exploration could include robotic flying vehicles that could help landers,

  • rovers, or even humans.

  • This is all just the first step towards a future where we could explore space like we never have before

  • and I for one, can't wait.

  • There are just so many questions to explore.

  • Are we the only ones? Are we alone?

  • I think if we found a potential biosignature,

  • it really just throws the door wide open to the possibility for life in the universe.

  • To learn more about NASA's mission to Mars and how exactly they want to bring back samples,

  • check out this episode from our Focal Point series.

  • Is there another mission you'd like to see us cover?

  • Let us know in the comments below.

  • Make sure to subscribe to Seeker, and as always, thanks so much for watching.

  • We'll see you next time.

If anyone knows anything about exploring the landscape of Mars, it's NASA.

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NASAの火星2020年ミッションについてまだ知らないこと (What You Still Don’t Know About NASA’s Mars 2020 Mission)

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    Summer に公開 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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