NASA Evaluating Possible Overland Journeys For Mars Rover To Visit - Mission Scientist

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd February, 2021) NASA engineers are now evaluating different locations for the Perseverance rover to investigate following its successful soft landing on Mars last week, mission directors at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, told reporters.

"It is our major focus right now: What do we want to do? where do we want to go?" Perseverance Deputy Project Scientist Ken Williford said during a press conference on Monday. "We ended up right on this major geologic feature two differently mapped units.

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Williford noted that Perseverance was successfully dropped by parachute right beside the Jezero Crater, a noted geological feature.

"One of the big questions for us is what is that crater made from? Sedimentary rocks? Igneous rocks?" Williford said.

Earlier on Monday, NASA made public the first video of Perseverance landing on Mars. The video shows the deployment of the mission's parachute and its touchdown on the Martian surface beneath a blue-grey sky.